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.
Its leaders China they don't seem to care about Bitcoin and Ethereum, stating that 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 are discounted. The 1000nm Nvidia Quadro P14 model released in 2017 is priced at 2.429 yuan ($376) on JD.com, a popular Chinese store, down from 3.000 yuan ($464) before. The Asus GeForce RTX3060, announced earlier this year, is priced from 13.499 yuan ($2087) to 4.699 yuan ($763) on Tmall, another Chinese on-line store.
The trend seems to be catching on in America, as some of its users have noticed Reddit.
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.
