Is the cryptocurrency boom beginning to slow down in China? A Taiwanese PC builder found a large number of GPUs for sale in China. The cards were once used for cryptocurrency mining, but no longer seem worth the hassle.

According to a screenshot of a mining group posted on PTT, a popular Taiwanese message board, Chinese miners are selling off large numbers of Nvidia and AMD GPUs (via HKEPC). These include not only the latest 30-series and 6000-series GPUs, but also other older generations, including AMD's cheap and cheerful Polaris generation.

The price of the cards is also not significantly inflated; according to HKEPC, RTX 3070s are sold by the hundreds, which could make them cheaper, costing roughly HK$3,120 (HKD) each. This is just over $400 US.

Since these cards are sold in large quantities, the seller may be hoping that cryptocurrency miners elsewhere will take them up on this offer. Either way, gamers would be well advised to stay out of it.

The fact that these graphics cards are being used for cryptocurrency mining is a red flag for prospective buyers.

The mere fact that these cards are being sold may indicate a greater decline in the profitability, or viability, of cryptocurrencies in China. The country currently has the highest hash rates in the world and mines more cryptocurrencies than anyone else, but recent mining crackdowns by both Chinese financial and local authorities may have some people considering relocating to other countries.

There are several other signs that the tide may be turning in GPU mining, especially in China: GPU prices are falling, ASRock says demand is easing, and Ethereum is moving to proof-of-stake. In addition, there is Nvidia's hash rate limiter, which will be of further concern to miners if profitability declines further this year.

It is impossible to say with certainty what will happen. This could be a small wave, a temporary lull for today's biggest cryptos. Even the "low" values of Ethereum and Bitcoin today are well above their values in just January of this year.

Basically, this is not the end of cryptocurrencies, and we are definitely not out of the woods yet.