Graphic Hardware Shortage As Litecoin Mining Demand Rises

An interesting ‘Market Currents’ post made its way onto investment portal Seeking Alpha yesterday. Focusing on computer chip producers, AMD and Nvidia, the post mentioned that high end graphic cards (GPU) were in shortages due to demand for the chips by litecoin miners. According to the report, AMD GPU’s were “viewed as far more efficient at mining Litecoins than Nvidia” but both were in demand. As a result, it was noted that at online computer hardware and software store, Newegg, AMD’s high end R9 280 and 290X GPUs were almost all out of stock, with only a versions still available for purchase.

The interest in GPUs comes as prices of litecoin have risen from below $2 this summer to over $50 last month. Currently trading around $30, the increase in value offers miners higher returns on their computer and energy investment. Overall, while seemingly just a ‘digital’ coin, the demand for growth an impact of these currencies has grown to where they even affect the physical world.