Hong Kong authorities seize allegedly smuggled 300 Nvidia BTC mining GPUs

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Hong Kong authorities have seized 300 block reward mining graphic processing units (GPUs) in an anti-smuggling operation. The authorities collectively seized the allegedly smuggled goods worth $3.8 million in the waters off the Hong Kong International Airport.

Hong Kong Customs confirmed in a statement that the operation started when its officers spotted “several suspicious men moving cartons from a fishing vessel onto a speedboat.” While the men fled, the officers were able to detain the fishing vessel the men used and seize a large batch of smuggled goods, which included high-valued food, electronic products and cosmetics.

As a local outlet later reported, among the items the authorities seized were 300 Nvidia 30HX cryptomining processors (CMPs). Nvidia recently released this series of block reward mining GPUs in response to the shortage of its gaming processors in the market. Block reward miners had continued to gobble up all its GPUs, leading to frustrated gamers.

The 30HX CMPs have been quite difficult to find, with some outlets revealing that they have so far only been produced by third-party Taiwanese manufacturers Palit and Gigabyte. The GPU is also rather inefficient, especially compared to some of the other block reward mining GPUs in its price range. However, they have still been in high demand as most block reward miners are currently making huge profits. As CoinGeek reported recently, 500.com also purchased ASIC miners dating back to 2016. These miners, while inefficient, are still profitable in the current market where most digital currencies are unjustifiably highly priced.

The seizure in Hong Kong shows the continued soaring demand for block reward mining equipment, especially in China. The Asian economic giant accounts for a majority of block reward miners globally. It has been among the worst hit by a global chip shortage that has led to a dwindling supply in block reward mining ASIC rigs.

In addition to the ASIC shortage, the Chinese miners have to contend with a government clampdown on digital currencies. This denies them the chance to exchange the digital currencies they mint into the Chinese renminbi. Three-quarters of Chinese miners claimed a few months back that they are now struggling to even settle their power bills.

 See also: Equity analyst John Pitts and fintech expert Len Mazur discuss TAAL, Bitcoin and the transaction processing industry