GPU→Room Heater

Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. It’s a brand new week. The world continues to play, “Where in the world is Do Kwon?” The answer could be Europe. A large landmass to be in, but that’s where a South Korean publication claims he is hiding. It seems he flew into Dubai and then escaped to Europe just before his passport was cancelled. We wonder if he’s on Tinder asking women for help.

Moving on, today we talk about how ETH miners have found other uses for their GPUs, and DOGE’s bull run is over.

The markets were choppy. Bitcoin was at ~$21,100 while Ethereum fell to ~$1,600 levels. Nasdaq rose after the US reported positive jobs data. Back home, Sensex and Nifty had a small rally.

50 Days Since Merge: Where Are The Miners?

Chris Kyle, a member of the crypto mining group Flexpool, has a unique use case for his GPUs. He’s planned to use the ETH mining equipment to heat his Vancouver home. Why let the hardware go to waste? It costs money to crank up the heater, anyway.

Hut 8 Mining, a mining company in North America, will use its mining rigs to provide technology services, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and on-demand VFX.

In September, Ethereum completed the Merge and moved from proof of work (PoW) to an energy-efficient proof of stake (PoS) model. Environmental activists cheered the shift, but miners scrambled to find alternatives. Fifty days later, alt uses have been found.

FYI PoW crypto involves the use of high-power computers to solve complex maths problems for mining. And PoS involves ‘staking’ or depositing crypto to validate a transaction.

What’s the switch option?Miners knew that their Ethereum hardware will sit idle after the PoS. They needed a Plan B. Some moved to other tokens such as Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Ravencoin, but the mining costs were not proportional to the returns. The token prices also differ, with Ethereum at ~$1,600, Litecoin at $65, and ETC at ~$25. Ravencoin is not worth 10 cents. Some miners relied on Ethereum’s PoW fork but we know how that went. Bitcoin mining is not an alternative because its GPU specs are different. So, a move within crypto wasn’t sustainable in the long term.

Mind you, the mining rigs didn’t come cheap. An ideal Ethereum rig has six GPUs, which costs ~$4,400. With PoW gone from ETH, miners looked for other ROI streams. There are two common ones:

1. Resale: Miners unloaded their GPUs in the resale market. Since graphics cards are also used for video games, there is a potential for reuse. But again, there is a problem. Used Ethereum GPUs carry the risk of being overheated while mining. So they may not be as effective as a new GPU.

1. Cloud and AI: Think DALL.E, the OpenAI text-to-image generation system. Businesses can use the old GPUs to build on top of such AI products at a faster pace. Mining equipment can also be used at data centres to handle heavy information loads. Mining firm HIVE, for example, has tested its GPU cards to be redeployed for cloud storage and AI applications. But it isn’t easy for individual miners to sell to technology companies, because these firms buy GPUs in bulk.

A few crypto miners decided to stick around. But the market’s been harsh and profits are elusive. Mining pools such as Luxor are in the hunt for mining replacements. But a third of its users have logged off.

What’s next?Only ~30% of the ETH miners found alt crypto. The rest of them are on the lookout for buyers. And if they don't find any buyers, the GPUs will probably be dumped. That’s a new worry. Discarded e-waste may find its way to the oceans.

But the death of Ethereum miners is good news for gamers. GPUs are more affordable since demand is lower among miners. Some GPUs have also been auctioned on a livestream.

And for those who’ve decided to hold on to their GPUs, there are rooms to heat.

Sit Down DOGE

Elon Musk’s Twitter. That’s a story with more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film. A new one every day. Especially when it comes to cryptocurrency. Right after Musk took over, reports claimed Twitter was working on its own crypto wallet. Now, The Platformer reports those plans are shelved. Expectedly, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell 10% early on Friday.

So no crypto for Twitter?Nobody knows anything for sure. But given Musk’s erratic behaviour, nothing is off the table. He’s never kept his love for DOGE secret, but there have been no announcements on the plan of action for the altcoin. DOGE’s price has consistently reacted to Musk's plans so far.

What’s happening at Twitter?About half the workforce is going to get fired, a version of Vine is returning, and paywalled videos and paid direct messages are being considered. The newsletter product Twitter bought in 2021 is going to be shut down, and the Notes product is also on pause. It hasn’t even been two weeks and the changes are keeping everyone on tenterhooks.

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