So we're in a cryptocurrency boom again, and it's total chaos on the GPU market. At this point, we've seen everything, from small-scale at-home miners to massive mining farms, even using laptops in desperate attempts to get hands on hardware to get in on the crypto boom. Meanwhile, a new story via @I_Leak_VN is surfacing about an internet cafe switching to cryptocurrency mining.
In a Facebook Post, Internet Cafe Computer Star revealed that it is switching business model to cryptocurrency mining, stating that profits are higher than the internet cafe business model — and this isn't a crazy thought when you consider that they also sell PC components and so have ready access to RTX 3080s for mining.
A single RTX 3080 GPU can generate quite significant daily profits after some tuning (and even without where power is cheap), which with the electricity prices in Vietnam (where Star internet cafe is located), can generate a pretty good income — especially if you already have the space, computers, and electric infrastructure for it. Whereas a single PC would normally bring in a small income per day in use by a customer, a series of GPUs connected to that PC can easily exceed that income, at least with the current profitability levels on Ethereum Mining.
The continuing effects of COVID-19 are a factor, of course. With many countries still enforcing business closures and social distancing measures, most of the PC stations at the cafe were sitting empty. No doubt once mining profits drop and COVID-19 infections come down, the internet cafes can return to their previous business model.
