Until Ehtereum miners discover an “alternative,” gaming laptops will remain considerably more costly than they were previously.

There has been a global chip shortage in the computer industry for the past few months. Companies such as Intel, Samsung, and others have stated that their goods have been delayed and that the market as a whole has suffered as a result. It’s not only the delays; costs appear to have risen as well. However, the price of GPUs in gaming laptops and PCs may have risen for an odd reason: cryptocurrency.

GPU prices have risen dramatically in comparison to CPU pricing, according to a report by The Economist based on data from Keepa. The Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card, which normally sells for approximately $700, has sold for as much as $2,500.

Keepa’s research shows that Ethereum — the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin — mining may have driven GPU prices up. The heart and soul of gaming machines are said to be adept at matrix algebra and machine learning in general. According to the research, it’s also a good tool for mining Ethereum.

Keepa’s research also shows that GPU prices have been extremely closely correlated with Ethereum’s value over the previous six years. For example, the price of Ethereum increased from $107 to $4400 in 2020, and GPU prices increased as well. However, while the price of Etherum has dropped by 40%, GPU costs have not.

According to The Economist, Ethereum miners may “rejig” the blockchain to demand less processing, lowering GPU prices.

Gaming chipset manufacturing has also been sluggish, resulting in increased costs. If manufacturing increases, it is predicted that GPU prices would decrease. Gaming machines will continue to be far more expensive than they used to be until Ehtereum miners find an “alternative.”

Also read: Why is China cracking down on cryptocurrency?