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TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

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Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#251

Post by skohan »

snapcaster wrote: post #171
brianwawok wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't if people realize that BTC is not a useful product, and the price falls to $1k or $100. At that point no one except someone stealing electricity can afford to mine, so the entire monetary system collapses and becomes worth the same as US Civil War dollars (can maybe buy a loaf of bread with a wheelbarrow full?)

Given that bitcoin has been around for 2008, at what point will you personally concede that it's not likely to happen? Why would it happen now if it didn't in the first 13 years?

I think it's a bit disingenuous to use 2008 as the point of reference. Bitcoin didn't really reach the point of public consciousness before the 2017 boom (which was largely attributable to price manipulation. Prior to that the main use-case was buying drugs online, and prior to that it was a niche hobby for libertarian futurists.

Given the increasing prevalence of ransomeware attacks, and the fact that they have touched higher and higher profile targets, it's not impossible to imagine the regulatory hammer coming down on cryptocurrency at some point in the near-ish future.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#252

Post by gemexe »

zigradett wrote: post #110

Bitfinex (which has been outlawed in the USA) keeps printing Tether to prop up the price of Bitcoin, graphics cards are snatched up as soon as they are manufactured, and they're using an Argentina-sized amount of power to keep the whole thing going. Yes, it works, but no one on earth will ever use these Bitcoins to buy two pizzas ever again. What's the end-game, at this point? As many bagholders as possible?

Who is using GPUs for bitcoin nowadays?

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#253

Post by neb_b »

p_j_w wrote: post #235
neb_b wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people that need it won't sell. Bitcoin is most useful in countries already living under authoritarian rule with no access to traditional banking.

That is a point in favor of this particular policy idea, though, isn't it?

How so?

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#254

Post by markus_zhang »

ren_engineer wrote: post #172
pcurve wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their margin is approaching 40%. They're basically printing money at this point. It's hilarious how a manufacturer can be so profitable nowadays.

"service economy" was always a meme being sold to the gullible masses, manufacturing capacity is the only thing that matters for an economy. Manufacturing has always printed the money It amazes me how the US allowed itself to be nearly deindustrialized after manufacturing effectively won them WWII and global dominance. Now the US can't even make ventilators or face masks

US is smart enough to retain the cream of the manufacturers. I think some smaller western countries are really in the danger of a complete de-industrialization.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#255

Post by skohan »

jeffe wrote: post #204
cletus wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this but it's even worse than that. Estimates on Bitcoin energy usage put it at over 1TW now. I believe it was comparable to the energy consumption of Argentina. Advocates will defend this by saying most energy usage is renewable. This conjures the image of someone with a bunch of solar panels but the reality is that it's primarily hydro power because that's the cheapest. Thing is, in regions with cheap…

Let's not commit the fallacy of comparing unrelated big numbers. How does the energy and time per usd transferred compare between btc and the traditional banking system?

It's much, much less efficient if you measure the utility of the banking system vs. the utility of cryptocurrency.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#256

Post by KingMachiavelli »

dangus wrote: post #66
vardump wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be the start of the end of high-end PC gaming, unless prices get back to a more reasonable level. Consoles (and phones) are very competitive and cost significantly less. Or perhaps it just causes the games to have lower performance requirements. Is integrated graphics the future of PC gaming?

High-end PC gamers were always about money-is-no-object gaming. None of the tech they use has ever been strictly necessary. The vast majority of gamers still use 1080p. More people login to Steam on a Mac than login to Steam with a 4K monitor attached. Maybe the high-end is more expensive now, but you still see forums riddled with people paying $1000+ for cards. If nobody was paying for it the price would go back dow…

Depends on what you mean by high-end. If you want to run the latest AAA games then you will need a decent machine. If you want to do >1080p gaming then the requirements are even greater. But it's actually not that expensive, if you play 2 every day for 8/10 days, then you will play 584 hours/year. If your gaming setup costs $3000 every 5 years, that comes out to $1/hour. That's a lot cheaper than most hobbies.

The popularity of eSports is because pretty much anyone can play those games not that high end gaming is becoming a niche. Plus eSports & low-end gaming are super popular in less wealthy, non-western countries where as high-end gaming is going to be limited to developed countries. Within developed countries, high-end gaming is not a niche like VR.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#257

Post by DSMan195276 »

tromp wrote: post #103
cletus wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this but it's even worse than that. Estimates on Bitcoin energy usage put it at over 1TW now. I believe it was comparable to the energy consumption of Argentina. Advocates will defend this by saying most energy usage is renewable. This conjures the image of someone with a bunch of solar panels but the reality is that it's primarily hydro power because that's the cheapest. Thing is, in regions with cheap…

Transaction fees will always make it economical to mine. They currently make up a small fraction of the block reward, but within a decade or two (5 block subsidy halvings), we can expect them to dominate. Btw, not all cryptocurrencies are deflationary [1]. [1] https://john-tromp.medium.com/a-case-for-using-soft-total-su...

That's only true if people are actually willing to pay that much in fees though. If the amount from fees doesn't keep up then eventually some miners will have to stop mining.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#258

Post by alpineidyll3 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #32

Supply shortage is another way of saying demand excess. I don’t see much evidence that TSMC ever really slowed production, at least for their most advanced processes that are in high demand. This is yet another way we’re all forced to pay the price for cryptocurrency. As long as GPUs are profitable for mining, they will be purchased and put to work. The saddest part is that each additional GPU added to the mining net…

Don't forget the main advantage of mining over buying coin is to avoid all fiat associated regulations. So it's not just about slightly cheaper tokens, it's really about distributing the cost of tax evasion and money laundering.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#259

Post by caoilte »

bluecalm wrote: post #186
snapcaster wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that bitcoin has been around for 2008, at what point will you personally concede that it's not likely to happen? Why would it happen now if it didn't in the first 13 years?

Madoff's scam lasted for 17 years and only collapsed because of sharp economic downturn. It could have lasted for much longer if people suddenly didn't need the cash. Bitcoin is often described as distributed Ponzi. There is little value (skipping over regulations is about the only thing it's useful for) and a lot artificial pumping. It will collapse when people need money for something else so either economic downtu…

Yup. And, "It will happen slowly at first. Then all at once."

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#260

Post by [deleted] »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #32

Supply shortage is another way of saying demand excess. I don’t see much evidence that TSMC ever really slowed production, at least for their most advanced processes that are in high demand. This is yet another way we’re all forced to pay the price for cryptocurrency. As long as GPUs are profitable for mining, they will be purchased and put to work. The saddest part is that each additional GPU added to the mining net…

[deleted]
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