Bitcoin Miner Demand Is Outstripping Supply in China
This article was originally published by 8btc and written by Vincent He.
Bitcoin’s ongoing bull run has sprung up demand for new mining equipment, putting pressure on manufacturers to produce enough machines to satiate buyers.
For instance, the Huaqiang North Commercial Area, the largest mining equipment market in China, has sold out its stock — even preorders have been postponed.
Inside Huaqiang North Commercial Area, an electronics manufacturing hub in Shenzhen, shoppers can find vendors of mining machines scattered between the fourth and sixth floors in spaces originally occupied by sellers of computer components. Demand allows vendors to sell well above the price listed on the website.
Considering the surging price of mining machines, clients buy as many mining machines as they can and the Antminer S17 is now traded at a price of about $3,055 (21,000 CNY).
When asked if there is any stock available, the vendor said that the Antminer S17 and Whatsminer have been sold out. The Antminer S17, S9 and T17 have also sold out, according to Bitmain’s website.
Bitcoin addresses can be a more intuitive indicator reflecting the feverish market than mining hashrate. By the end of June, there were 672,658 addresses with 38,614,230 blockchain wallet users. Comparing user survey data in 2017 to that in 2019, more than half of the people surveyed in 2019 have gotten to know what Bitcoin is and have realized that Bitcoin and blockchain are financial innovations.
Thanks to the current bull market and low-cost electricity charges in the wet season, miners can easily get their invested money back. The profit of a mining machine can reach about $8 to $12 (50 to 80 CNY) per day, so in less than five months, miners can earn their investments back.
Miner maintainers are also beneficiaries, as clients have doubled recently. About $5 to $6 (30 to 40 CNY) was recently enough to repair the control board of a mining machine, but charges now reach between about $12 to $13 (80 to 90 CNY). Even if there is only one maintenance site in a province, miners are still scrambling for its services.
As of now, the electricity cost is relatively low during the wet season period in China. If the electricity cost can be controlled within $0.04 (0.3 CNY) per kilowatt, miners can get considerable profits, whether by new or secondhand mining machines.
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