US Man Installs Crypto Mining Rig in Hybrid BMW Sportscar

While this mining rig can be powered by the hybrid car's battery, the trunk needs to stay open to avoid overheating.

AccessTimeIconJan 26, 2021 at 12:19 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 11:01 a.m. UTC
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A U.S.-based cryptocurrency user has installed a mining rig in the trunk of his BMW i8, running the compact setup on the auto's hybrid-electric power system.

  • Simon Byrne's system comprises six Nvidia RTX 3080s graphics cards, popular for mining Ethereum, which can be in operation whilst driving, according to a PC Gamer report Tuesday.
  • While it can be powered by the hybrid car's battery, the trunk needs to stay open to avoid overheating.
  • Byrne also operates a more traditional mining rig said to be capable of generating a profit of $128,088 per year. The BMW setup was first reported by HardwareTimes.
  • Byrne's near-$150,000 BMW boasts the Nevada license plate “HODLER” (a community term for holders of cryptocurrency). The vehicle is capable of accelerating to 100 km/hr in 4.4 seconds.
  • He told PC Gamer he had installed the mining rig in his car "just to annoy gamers."
  • Chip-maker giant Nvidia recently said it could potentially restart the production of dedicated graphics processing units for cryptocurrency miners, amid short supplies of the RTX 3080 GPUs.

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