Nvidia May Restart Production of Crypto Mining GPUs if Demand Sufficient

Selling dedicated crypto cards would alleviate pressure on Nvidia's consumer models.

AccessTimeIconJan 18, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 3:15 a.m. UTC
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Chip-making giant Nvidia could potentially restart production of dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs) for cryptocurrency miners, according to its executive vice president and chief financial officer, Colette Kress.

  • Speaking at an event on Jan. 12, Kress said if demand in the cryptocurrency market picks up to a "meaningful" level, the company could again start selling the specialized cards called CMPs, according to a SeekingAlpha transcription. 
  • CMPs are GPUs with the video outputs removed, allowing them to be made and sold more cheaply.
  • Currently, Nvidia's RTX 30-Series GPUs are popular with miners, though Kress said, "We don’t believe [mining demand is] a big part of our business today."
  • However, "gaming demand is very strong, and we think that’s larger than our current supply," she said.
  • With the RTX 30-Series supply to stay tight until at least the end of Q1 2021, relaunching CMPs could alleviate pressure on the consumer product line.
  • While bitcoin miners use specialized and more costly processors called ASICs, other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum's ether can be mined with GPUs.
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