Cryptocurrency’s impact on the PC Market

Anyone who’s attempted to build the PC of their dreams during 2021 has faced numerous challenges in acquiring the components they desire. The continued impact of the silicon shortage has been felt across numerous industries. The scarce allotments of game consoles, video cards, and high-wattage power supplies has led to limited windows or extra hoops that must be tackled for a chance at the product of choice. The new video editing rig built by Jeff over at Craft Computing highlights the reality of this struggle. The salient points he’s raised regarding target markets and parts availability continue to persist. The choice of the reference Radeon RX 6900 XT was a smart move on his part as the PowerColor model is going for a mere $2500 USD at Micro Center. With CPU shortages, GPU shortages, power supply shortages, and impending memory price increases contributing to skyrocketing PC price increases for the DIY market, the last bastion of sane pricing is about to “experience some things”.

The fine folks over at Tom’s Hardware have been sounding the alarm about a potential risk to storage based on the impending Chia cryptocurrency boom. There’s already sufficient evidence of in-market price increases for storage. ADATA has celebrated a large increase in sales of their high capacity SSDs. If Chia takes off globally, other markets may experience comparable supply constraints and associated price hikes. If you’re hedging against this outcome and have a bulk storage (direct-attached or network-attached) need to fulfill, it may be best to buy now. The floods in Thailand, which occurred about ten years ago, resulted in serious constraints for the enterprise and consumer markets. Postponement of these purchases will have a direct impact on designated budgets.