Gone are the days when you must wait in a six-month queue or pay thousands of dollars for an ASIC miner. Nowadays, if you want an ASIC miner, you can grab one directly from Walmart (via Bitcoin Magazine). Admittedly, they aren't dirt cheap, but some have decreased in price.
Bitcoin has seen a downward trend over the last few months. The cryptocurrency started the year strong at around $47,000 in January but has since dropped to around the $20,000 mark in November. Despite Bitcoin's price reduction, optimistic miners continue diligently working the mines, but these are million-dollar companies with tons of mining equipment. Unfortunately, it's too late for the average Joe to jump on the mining bandwagon, given the difficulty of mining a bitcoin.
China's ban on cryptocurrency mining has forced many sellers to take refuge at Walmart to offload their ASIC miners. Walmart's marketplace has devices from all the big names, including Bitmain, Goldshell, and Canaan. Of course, it's not only ASIC miners, either. The third-party sellers also commercialize control boards, individual ASIC chips, cables, connectors, and other tidbits you may need to set up your mining operation.
The Walmart marketplace offers ASIC miners options at different price points. We see devices going from $2,500 up to $14,600. For example, Bitmain sells the AntMiner S19J Pro for $9,984 on its online store. The same AISC miner is available at Walmart for $6,000, 40% cheaper than buying it from the manufacturer. A seller also listed the AntMiner T19 for $199, but it's out of stock.
Bitcoin mining as an individual simply isn't profitable when you factor in the equipment and electricity costs. Coming back to our example, the AntMiner S19J Pro generates $1.26 daily, assuming you pay around 10 cents/kWh for electricity. It'll take roughly 13 years to recover your $6,000 investment. Electricity will probably cost more in that time, or your ASIC miner may bite the dust, meaning you'll never break even. So unless you already have a big mining outfit or live in a wonderland where electricity is almost free, you should stay away from these ASIC miners on Walmart's marketplace.
