Inevitable Bust? GPU Makers See Crypto Mining as Short-Term Sales Boost

While historically the slowest time of the year for these businesses, Q2 is proving lucrative for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as interest in ethereum and other cryptocurrencies has exhausted graphics processing unit (GPU) inventories.

That's because, while not designed for the technology, GPUs from product lines such as Nvidia's GeForce and AMD's Radeon can be used to mine ethereum and other popular public blockchains, including litecoin, NEM, dash, monero and NEO. This means that by running special software, these hardware components allow users to compete for lucrative rewards. (On the ethereum blockchain, each block is now worth nearly $2,000).