Crypto mining infrastructure companies like Hive Blockchain and Hut 8 Mining are looking at profitable new opportunities for leveraging their considerable GPU-based computing power. Bloomberg reports that as opportunities and profits from crypto have ebbed away, these businesses have been lucky enough to be in line to catch another computational tidal wave — artificial intelligence (AI) computing.
It is estimated that the crypto mining industry invested $15B on GPUs with which to unearth blockchain-based tokens. Last September, the financial viability of a swathe of cryptomining businesses evaporated overnight.
Of course, we are talking about the event known as the Ethereum Merge, where this popular GPU-minable crypto currency switched from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. At the time we celebrated, noting that millions of GPUs would become unshackled and perhaps find their way into the tender arms of a PC enthusiast or gamer. However, some miners have held on, having been less affected due to their Bitcoin mining activity, while looking for other crypto opportunities and hoping for a bounce or resurgence in the crypto economy. According to Bloomberg's report, the likes of Hive Blockchain and Hut 8 Mining are already raking in tens of millions of dollars thanks to their HPC service offerings and the burgeoning AI business.
