Asus releases two graphics cards for cryptocurrency mining

One of the world’s largest technology hardware manufacturers has announced the launch of new GPUs aimed at the cryptocurrency mining market.

Taiwanese manufacturer Asus has unveiled two new graphics cards (GPUs), the Mining RX 470 and Mining P106, designed to handle the energy- and heat-intensive process of cryptocurrency mining. Although not explicitly stated in the product positioning, the launch is undoubtedly aimed at gaining interest from those who mine Ethereum. In contrast, Bitcoin mining has already evolved to the stage where it is mined using application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Cryptocurrency mining is the process of bringing new blocks into the distributed network. When blocks are mined, new blockchain tokens are added to the system and awarded to the miners as compensation - in this case, miners can make a profit when the electricity and operating costs of the mining equipment are lower than the income from selling these tokens.

According to an announcement from ASUS today, these new graphics cards “are specifically designed for cryptocurrency mining, providing the most computing power at the lowest cost.”

The increase in cryptocurrency mining activity has led to a global shortage of graphics cards (GPUs). A miner recently told CoinDesk that local stores are running out of GPUs, and some online marketplaces such as Newegg, Amazon and eBay are running out of stock.

There was also a “GPU boom” in 2014, when mining activity around altcoins like Dogecoin and Litecoin led to similar GPU price increases and inventory declines.

In addition to the shortage of GPUs, Ethereum network data shows that its computing power is constantly increasing.

According to etherchain.org, from April 27 to June 27, the difficulty of ethereum mining - which increases as computing power increases - has nearly tripled.

According to ASUS, the RX470 will be available worldwide, while the Mining P106 graphics card will only be available in China and Eastern Europe and will go on sale in July.