The Bitcoin mining corporation Hut 8 has purchased $30 million worth of NVIDIA's CMP GPUs, the corporation has announced.
NVIDIA will begin delivering its CMP products in May 2021, with Hut 8 expecting the purchase to complete by summer. By using the NVIDIA CMP, Hut 8 believes it will improve its mining capabilities by 1600 Gigahash, alongside allowing the corporation to expand into new blockchain networks.
"We are incredibly excited to have these high performance CMPs in our fleet," said Hut 8's CEO Jaime Leverton. "We believe mining with CMPs will open up new opportunities for Hut 8 and will allow us to continue to execute on our long- and short-term plans for increased and diversified revenue streams.”
Who is Hut 8 Mining Corp?
Hut 8 is a Canadian cryptocurrency mining company that operates an industrial-sized Bitcoin mining system.
The company is now diversifying its cryptocurrency portfolio. Its investment in NVIDIA's CMP GPUs allows Hut 8 to mine Ethereum and other currencies.
To make use of its newly acquired GPUs, the company has also announced it will work in partnership with the technology firm Luxor to use its software to switch between different mining algorithms.
What is the NVIDIA CMP?
NVIDIA's CMP - or crypto mining processor - is a new GPU designed specifically for mining. As the CMP does not include display outputs, it should increase the efficiency of crypto mining setups.
NVIDIA plans to launch four CMP variants: 30HX, 40HX, 50HX and 90HX. At the most powerful, the 90HX - slated for release in Q2 - has a hash rate of 86MH/s.
The release of the CMP comes as NVIDIA seeks to restrict miners from using its RTX 30 Series GPUs for mining purposes. Facing stock shortages amid rising demand, NVIDIA implemented hash rate restrictions in the RTX 3060 to deter crypto miners.
What does this deal mean for the NVIDIA CMP?
In a Q4 earnings call, NVIDIA's Colette Kress said the company expects to generate $50m from the NVIDIA CMP in its first quarter of sales. Kress said NVIDIA is targeting industrial miners for these sales. Hut 8's $30m purchase goes a long way in making such a figure attainable.
However, it is unknown whether this deal could impact the wider NVIDIA CMP availability for consumers. With NVIDIA already facing stock shortages for its wider range of GPUs, it is possible the CMP could also be affected.
Hut 8's may also help ease some crypto miners' uncertainty about the NVIDIA CMP. With specs not dissimilar from the GTX 1660 Super, the CMP's effectiveness at deterring miners remains to be seen.
READ MORE: NVIDIA CMP 220HX could change crypto mining forever with 210MH/s
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