TSMC: Cryptocurrency Mining Drove Strong Third Quarter Revenue

Cryptocurrency mining was a boon this past quarter for semiconductor foundry operator TSMC, according to new statements.

Oct 20, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 7:03 a.m. UTC

The chief financial officer for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, cited cryptocurrency mining in the firm's third-quarter results.

The company – which provides semiconductor manufacturing services for a range of industries, including firms that design and assemble application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for cryptocurrency mining – announced third-quarter revenue of $8.32 billion, an increase of 17.9% compared to the previous quarter and 1.5% year-over-year.

Boosting those figures, Lora Ho said, is demand for semiconductors used in mining products.

She said in a statement:

"The strength of our third-quarter revenue was driven mainly by major mobile product launches and a generally healthy demand environment, including cryptocurrency mining. However, this strength of our third quarter revenue was partially dampened by our customers’ continued inventory management."

It's a notable acknowledgment from a major hardware manufacturer, but one that's also unsurprising given past statements from other firms that have seen windfalls from the interest in mining, the process by which new transactions are added to the blockchain.

Both Nvidia and AMD, which make graphics cards, have both pointed to mining as a beneficial force for their bottom lines. Indeed, it was Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang who declared in August that "cryptocurrencies and blockchain are here to say."

Mining activity, as pointed out by some Wall Street analysts, is also attracting investors to the companies' public stocks.

Image via Shutterstock

Read more about

Mining Bitcoin News TSMC

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.