Table of Contents

• GPU Advances AI Implementation
• A New Trend with No End in Sight

Should crypto miners consider doing other things with their computing capabilities now?

In 2017, when the crypto market soared, and profits flowed from every project, companies made millions selling crypto mining equipment to everyday users who were looking for a way to break into the field. GPU units flew off the shelves, creating a proverbial run on rigs that felt like a brilliant combination of opportunism and madness.

Today, things are much different.

High energy costs and a more competitive mining ecosystem required additional technological gusto to turn a profit, and miners were earning less money for more work.

Now, as prominent coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum are enduring a downward spike that sunk their value by around 85% of its 2017 peak, crypto mining is definitely in trouble.

Last month, Giga Watt Inc., a U.S. based crypto mining company filed for bankruptcy as declining demand for crypto mining has cut into their profits, making their future untenable. In addition, the Japanese internet company, GMO, reported a $5.5 million loss in its crypto mining division, a sign that profitability is leaving the sector. At the same time, Nvidia, a prominent producer of the graphics cards that propelled the crypto mining movement, has extra inventory that it attributes to a “post-crypto hangover.”

Of course, this predicament leaves a deluge of GPU units unused and looking for a new purpose, and Tatau, a decentralized marketplace where users can buy and sell excess GPU capacity, thinks they found the solution – powering the latest innovations in AI technology. 

GPU Advances AI Implementation

Some of the most profound technological breakthroughs are related to AI. In many ways, advances in AI technology are the most practical and important connection between humans and computers. AI technology is accelerating the rate of discovery in science, healthcare, education, and many other sectors, making computers more useful to the human experience than ever before.

Of course, the caveat is that AI, and the deep learning that propels its development, requires a lot of computing power, something that is unachievable with the current CPU-based models.

Enter the power and efficiency of GPU. Unfortunately, to acquire GPU computing power, entrepreneurs looking to make a mark using AI are forced to rent these capabilities from big tech firms or they have to buy their own equipment, both expensive propositions.

Tatau has established an arrangement to meet this demand that is more cost-effective and attainable for entrepreneurs. Since many people are looking for profitable use cases for their mining equipment, Tatau creates an ecosystem that makes it easy to sell that capacity for a profit.

Meanwhile, AI developers attain affordable and powerful access to the computing power that they need. GPU on the Tatau marketplace are multiple times more powerful than the current CPU offerings, and everyone can attain this computational ability without having to buy, setup, and maintain GPU rigs of their own.

For Tatau, this economy is propelled by a digital token, the Tatau Token, an ERC-20 compatible token that runs on the Ethereum blockchain.

In short, although crypto mining as a user-friendly enterprise is no longer viable, the GPU that enabled the movement is being repurposed for an even bigger and better endeavor.

A New Trend with No End in Sight

Many companies are recognizing the importance of diverting GPU capabilities towards AI development.

For example, FogCoin, another platform offering a marketplace for unused GPU, is opening the door for disillusioned crypto miners to continue profiting from their technology. However, with significantly fewer capabilities and malleability, it’s an ecosystem in progress.

Currently, there is no dampening the need for AI enabling GPU. As the MIT Technology Review notes, “AI is already affecting the way we work and play, and the potential for blockchain to do the same is starting to become a reality.”

Companies like Tatau and others who are deploying blockchain technology to proliferate AI development are fueling the future of technology that promises to be both disruptive and inspiring, ushering in the next era of computational abilities.

To be sure, crypto mining will continue as digital currencies seem permanently engrained in the modern financial system. However, that economy looks a lot different than it did a year ago. Currently, it is less profitable than it was before, but the next season of innovation, using tools previously deployed for crypto mining, is just beginning.