Prices for graphics processors (GPUs) in China fell sharply after the country banned cryptocurrency mining, ownership and transactions.
The drop in demand for graphics cards means a drop in price, and is a direct result of Beijing's decision, according to the South China Morning Post.
China's leaders do not seem to care about Bitcoin and Ethereum, saying the currencies have no intrinsic value and can be manipulated, making them a bad investment. So now that cryptocurrency mining has been completely banned in Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, there is less demand for hardware and therefore lower prices.
Both old and new GPU models have reduced prices. The 1000nm Nvidia Quadro P14, released in 2017, costs 2.429 yuan ($ 376) at JD.com, a popular Chinese store, up from 3.000 yuan ($ 464) before. The Asus GeForce RTX3060, announced earlier this year, costs from 13.499 yuan ($ 2087) to 4.699 yuan ($ 763), at Tmall, another Chinese online store.
The trend seems to be passing in America, as some Reddit users have noticed.
This of course is great news for gamers and computer makers looking for hardware. Nvidia recently announced that it had overturned its mining capabilities on the latest GeForce RTX GPUs in a bid to oust miners as gamers complained they were paying more because of the miners.
The Chinese ban, meanwhile, has pushed down the price of Bitcoin. In a statement issued Monday, the People's Bank of China said it had spoken with representatives of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Construction Bank, the Postal Savings Bank, the Industrial Bank and Alipayay Technology (China), reminding them not to promote such currencies and not to provide account services.
