As cryptocurrency started to take off, it came at the expense of cutting edge hardware. As new GPUs released, gamers and renderers were left dealing with skyrocketing GPU prices. As new cards were announced earlier this year, many were uncertain if they could even get an RTX 3090Ti for its launch price.
Thankfully, the cryptocurrency industry isn't in the greatest place right now. While a haunting reality for those invested in the virtual currency, it does mean that GPU prices are finally on the decline. Maybe it’s time for that upgrade?
Crypto Crash equals lower GPU prices
Reported by Tom’s Hardware, the massive tumble in crypto value has resulted in the associated hardware also dropping in price. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum — the two major virtual coins — have dropped to record lows.
Bitcoin currently sits at $30,000 with Ethereum at $2,200; both values are around 50% of the coins’ highest value. However, what's bad news for Meta Girlfriend cryptobros can only be good news for gamers.
The outlet reports that the price of nearly every graphics card has dropped over the course of this crypto crash. As crypto cards get sold off second hand and new stock becomes more available, the vastly inflated cost of hardware is decreasing.
On average, cards are seeing cost reductions of 5% with some falling by over 11%. The beastly Nvidia RTX 3090 fell by 9.8% from $2,829.39 to $2,550.86. In comparison, the smallest drop was the RTX 3070Ti which dropped in price by just 0.5% from $1,191.25 to $1,185.55.
With that said, not every card fell. In fact, some GPU prices increased. For example, the RX 6900 XT rose by 3.7%; $1,503.77 to $1,558.92.
Read More: Swedish Hover Bike finally lets you live out your Luke Skywalker fantasies IRL
Will crypto increase the price of graphics cards?
Of course, cryptocurrency isn't dead yet. A single bitcoin is still worth many thousands of dollars, an amount that will keep thousands invested. Additionally, new crypto tokens are being invented every single day. Some, like Dogecoin or BabyMuskCoin do eventually garner a small following.
As such, graphics cards will still be affected, as will the global chip shortage. GPU prices still have a ways to go until they're back to their normal prices, but this is a good sign for a return to normalcy.