Nvidia May Restart Production of Crypto Mining GPUs if Demand Sufficient
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.
Read more: Nvidia Accused of Trying to Discredit Ex-Employee in Crypto Mining Revenue Trial
