Ethereum Switches to Proof of Stake, GPU Mining is Dead

[btarunr]

NVIDIA Ada and AMD RDNA3 will not sell to Ethereum miners. In a dramatic move, the creators of Ethereum have switched over the popular crypto-currency's algorithm from proof-of-work, to proof-of-stake, which means miners will no longer spend GPU resources in competing to find the same blocks. This effectively ends GPU-accelerated mining as Ethereum mining was the number-1 consumer of high-end GPUs through 2021. The switch-over happened as the total terminal difficulty surpassed 58,750,000,000T, with the last block having been found. With this move, global electricity consumption is expected to reduce by 0.2% (that's enough to power the world's top 5 cities).

The impact of this move on GPU sales to crypto-currency miners is expected to be profound. GPUs are no longer an economical way to mine Bitcoin, ASICs are; and Ethereum mining constituted the bulk of activity from GPU-accelerated mining farms. This doesn't mean there aren't other crypto-currencies that rely on GPU-accelerated proof-of-work blockchain compute; but Ethereum had the highest market-cap among such currencies. Gamers have reason to rejoice, as NVIDIA and AMD now have to sell high-end GPUs squarely on merits of gaming performance, power-draw, and graphics card pricing.



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[droopyRO]

Gamers have reason to rejoice, as NVIDIA and AMD now have to sell high-end GPUs squarely on merits of gaming performance, power-draw, and graphics card pricing.

We will see, hope you are right, but we will see ...

 

[Dimitriman]

RIP

You will not be missed.

 

[the54thvoid]

I had read a Dubai based mining firm were switching to Bitcoin mining using GPU because they'll still make some money. Another crypto site mentioned (probably in hopeful earnest) that mining will switch to the smaller coins, which will in turn inflate their value and hence mining interest.

Apparently the global Ethereum mining was equivalent to the Netherlands power consumption but that has been effectively reduced by more than 99%.

 

[Jimmy_]

RIP

 

[phill]

Wonder what will come out next to take it over??...... Postive thinking and the like...

Heck, maybe they could put all those GPUs to FAH or WCG?? Might help find that cure a bit faster but its a shame it'll use more electric but still......

 

[Crackong]

R.I.Pieces

But seriously I think miners would find their next victim very soon.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Hopefully this will do something to address the fact that over the past several years, Nvidia has been acting like we need them more than they need us, though I personally doubt it. I would also like to think that it'd have a substantive effect on the pricing of videocards, especially the soon to be released ones, since the market has just contracted substantially...but the "free market" never seems to behave like we're told it should when that behavior would benefit consumers. How much you want to bet that the 4090 MSRP is larger than that of the 3090?

 

[ModEl4]

R.I.Pieces

But seriously I think miners would find their next victim very soon.

At least they will try, according to Wccftech:

Bad News, Gamers: Ethereum Mining Is Not Going Away, Not Yet, at Least

 

[Dimitriman]

Hopefully this will do something to address the fact that over the past several years, Nvidia has been acting like we need them more than they need us, though I personally doubt it. I would also like to think that it'd have a substantive effect on the pricing of videocards, especially the soon to be released ones, since the market has just contracted substantially...but the "free market" never seems to behave like we're told it should when that behavior would benefit consumers. How much you want to bet that the 4090 MSRP is larger than that of the 3090?

They have their ways, like renaming the 4070Ti AD104 to 4080 12GB so they can charge $699 or more for it. Free market works fine but never underestimate the power of Marketing.
NVIDIA RTX 4080 12GB and 16GB Based on Different Chips, Vastly Different Shader Counts | TechPowerUp

 

[Bwaze]

I think this would be the time for both GPU makers, and Intel too, to declare wasteful cryptomining on graphics cards an improper use, which they would fight - a bit more earnest than Nvidia's attempts which they themselves foiled.

 

[64K]

Ethereum is still trading for almost $1,600. That's far from the low of around $1,100 back in July. Maybe it just hasn't taken effect in the market yet.

 

[BorisDG]

Finally I can buy cheap 4090.

 

[mak1skav]

I am not so optimistic about that to be honest, I expect another alt coin to replace Ethereum for GPU miners in the near future.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Ethereum is still trading for almost $1,600. That's far from the low of around $1,100 back in July. Maybe it just hasn't taken effect in the market yet.

Well Ethereum isnt dead, its just mining for the coins that is.

 

[Bwaze]

I am not so optimistic about that to be honest, I expect another alt coin to replace Ethereum for GPU miners in the near future.

Sure, large businesses were built around cryptomining, with direct purchasing channels to graphics cards makers.

I also think Nvidia and AMD have large secret sectors devoted to promotion of cryptomining on their GPUs. They could even be directly investing into pumping some minable shitcoins, if things won't move by themselves soon enough.

 

[vmarv]

Mining won't disappear. They may switch to different hardware, or prefer a different currency, or move to different countries, but they will keep going.
The crypto currency is used by the organized crime for money laundering: it has its convenience for someone, no matter what. So in a way or another, they will keep mining profitable and the market alive.
As for the gpus, maybe the manufacturers will start engineering something different, specifically designed for that purpouse and very power efficient. We'll see.

 

[Blaylock]

I love how many believe that mining somehow depends on Ethereum and that it will miraculously die. Mining has been around far longer than Ethereum and will continue well past it, like it or not. I do think most of the newer miners that got into it recently will stop as they were simply chasing the fast buck. But those are a small portion of the mining community. The ones that have been doing it for many years will shut down short-term, if at all. Just long enough to reevaluate so they can continue on with whatever is most profitable.

 

[Luminescent]

Who knows, maybe Nvidia and AMD might try to prop up another crypto currency and the scam can continue.
Crypto, a rigged gambling game where all the big players make money except the little guy.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

The whole point of Ethereum is gone now, the whole project looks so stupid now, just made lives of people miserable.

 

[Dammeron]

I am not so optimistic about that to be honest, I expect another alt coin to replace Ethereum for GPU miners in the near future.

Moving to PoS is one thing, but ETH in this state being accepted by investors is another. I expect the mines switching to a different crypto, or creating ETH Classic 2.0 in a PoW model.

 

[TheDeeGee]

Something tells me GPU prices ain't gonna budge anyways.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Something tells me it won't go how the OP suggests.

Coin Mining has died three times already but here we are.

 

[mb194dc]

Good news that real world resources won't be wasted.

Crypto currencies remain a technologically obfuscated pyramid scheme in my view.

Can there be a utility for block chain other than speculation. Probably, eventually!

If you want an inflation hedge, good old hard assets are the answer.if you want to pay for things, regular fiat is the way.

 

[demirael]

R.I.Pieces

But seriously I think miners would find their next victim very soon.

Seriously, miners are the bad guys only from power expenditure and GPU hoarding sense. Miners don't create schemes.

How much you want to bet that the 4090 MSRP is larger than that of the 3090?

Can I bet a negative amount? So far I've seen 2k+ USD, which means it'll probably be like 3k€.