2018 is over, so it's time to look back at the key events of this very bizarre year. It wasn't a very good year for Blockchain, but there is a silver lining.
When talking about 2018, one might argue that the crypto landscape has changed more last year than it has in a decade of existence. One thing that hasn't changed though, was the constant barrage of criticism and predictions that blockchain is finally done for.
In 2018, more than ever, the critics were somewhat justified in their opinions. Those growing pains had to happen and now we are set for maturation.
The Death of Mining
2018 has seen dwindling profit margins for individual miners, as the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continued to drop. Add to that, the prices of electricity, GPUs and the competition from institutional miners which remained relatively high and you will see trouble.
Multiple mining operations that were not economically viable had to close down, and in November, the total hash rate has dropped to its lowest point since August.
Depending on where your operation is located, it is estimated that the mining cost of a single Bitcoin can currently range from $6,000 to $7,000, with the price of Bitcoin now around $3,800, it is clear that many miners will operate at a loss.
While the bigger players can weather the storm hoping for a bull market in 2019, the average miner will struggle to be profitable.
For that reason, GPU manufacturers saw a significant drop in sales which led to several business executives calling the mining market dead.
The CEO of AMD, Jensen Huang went on record saying that,
At this time, we consider crypto to be immaterial for the second half of the fiscal year.
Of course, things might improve with the developments of ASIC mining hardware and sustainable power solutions but it is unlikely that we will ever again see the amount of mining hype that was present throughout 2017.
But let's look at the bright side. Maybe you will be able to upgrade that graphic card on your PC without going bankrupt.
Follow @aftabkhan10
You got a 10.29% upvote from @luckyvotes courtesy of @aftabkhan10!
Mining is not dead, it is sleeping. Hibernating. Waiting for the bull to awaken. Now is the time to accumulate GPUs at a decreased price and get ready.
Hope so :/
You got a 9.14% upvote from @dailyupvotes courtesy of @aftabkhan10!
@dailyupvotes is the only bot with guaranteed ROI of at least 1%