Ethereum Mining Triggers German GPU Shortage

The cryptocurrency mining boom which wiped out GPU stocks across the US is now affecting sales in Europe. Both AMD and NVIDIA are launching mining-specific graphics cards to meet demand. In the meantime, German retailers report that they don’t have enough stock to meet demand and is cancelling outstanding orders. What triggered this latest cryptocurrency trend? The culprit is Ethereum, which is currently experiencing an unprecedented rise in value. It’s a modern-day goldrush.

German GPU Shortage

Tom’s Hardware reports:

“MindFactory, a German retailer, has removed many AMD and Nvidia graphics cards from its virtual shelves. The company confirmed in an email to Tom’s Hardware that it had to stop selling the products because it can’t get its hands on more graphics cards.

MindFactory told us that, in addition to pulling graphics cards from its shelves, it also canceled existing orders. “We had to cancel a lot of orders because of cards we can not get anymore,” the company said in an email to Tom’s Hardware. MindFactory customers were informed of the cancellation via email.”

US retailers responded by upping the price of graphics cards across the board. For example, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 now costs around $500. If the Ethereum epidemic spreads across Europe, expect to see similar price rises.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is the hot new cryptocurrency that is leaving Bitcoin in the dirt. The virtual currency uses the same blockchain technology as Bitcoin. However, new technological developments mean that building blockchain applications is now easier than ever. As a result, Ethereum uses an open-source, public distributed computing platform to facilitate its contractual agreements. Miners use GPUs to earn Ether tokens in an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Ether is used to traded or to fund network transactions.