Bitmain teases an Ethereum miner with the power of 32 RTX 3080 graphics cards

Bitmain, the Chinese cryptocurrency mining company, has announced that they have created a new Ethereum mining ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) to deliver users mining performance levels that are equivalent to 32 RTX 3080 graphics cards. Meet the Antminer E9, the ultimate Ethereum mining ASIC. 

Bitmain’s Antminer E9 offers users hash rates as high as 3 Gigahashes per second while consuming 2556 watts of power, giving the unit an efficiency rating of 0.85 J/M. This makes this mining ASIC incredibly efficient and easier to use than an equivalent mining rig with 32 RTX 3080 graphics cards. 

Right now, Bitmain has not revealed the release date or pricing of their E9 Antminer, though the unit is expected to cost over $20,000. Given the current price of graphics cards, a mining ASIC that can overpower 30 RTX 3080 GPUs will no doubt be able to justify such a high price tag. 

Sadly, Bitmain’s Antminer E9 is unlikely to lower the demand for PC graphics cards from cryptocurrency miners, as while mining ASICs can outperform 30 RTX 3080 graphics cards, it is unlikely that Bitmain will be able to produce these units at a large enough scale to negate the need for graphics cards for cryptocurrency mining. 

While the addition of the Bitmain Antminer E9 to the market will reduce the need for cryptocurrency mining graphics cards, it is unlikely to eliminate today’s GPU shortage.