Amid new price records for the leading cryptocurrency, the cost of ASIC miners in China has surged due to increased demand, including from Russia, according to local media reports.
A hardware dealer in Shenzhen informed journalists that he sold popular Antminer S21 units for $5600 each, approximately 30% higher than their price a year ago. He noted that these bitcoin miners are now out of stock.
On the Bitmain manufacturer’s website, the model is unavailable for order. The devices were sold out at $5400 or $27 per TH/s. With a discount, the prices were $3780 and $18.9, respectively.
A similar bitcoin miner with air cooling, the S21+, is offered at $21.5 per TH/s (with a coupon — $15). Delivery is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025. More powerful models with liquid or immersion cooling are available for up to $30.7 per TH/s, though this can drop to $24.56 with a discount.
In October last year, Australia’s Iris Energy purchased 7000 Antminer S21 units from Bitmain for $19.6 million — at $14 per TH/s. The same price was in the manufacturer’s contract with America’s CleanSpark.
In January 2024, the firm signed an agreement with Bitmain to purchase 160,000 S21 units at $16.1 per TH/s. By March, for Bitfarms, the cost of devices rose to $17.5 per unit of hash rate.
According to the Hashrate Index, average market prices for ASIC miners with energy consumption below 19 J/TH (a category including the entire S21 line) reached a peak of $20.28 per TH/s in early April. At the time of writing, the figure stands at $18.18.
According to a Chinese ASIC miner dealer, demand for devices from clients in Russia, the US, and Canada has particularly increased in recent months.
In December, Bitmain launched a production line in the United States.
Other equipment suppliers in Shenzhen confirmed to journalists that after the mining ban in China three years ago, domestic demand remains low. Equipment is mainly exported through Hong Kong, which is nearby and whose special economic regime mitigates the risk of government action against miner sales.
Local industry participants are optimistic about further growth of the leading cryptocurrency in 2025. Their optimism is largely based on political changes in the United States. President-elect Donald Trump is forming a digital asset-friendly administration and intends to create a national bitcoin reserve.
“This is only the early stage of the bitcoin bull market; the full market will be next year. By then, mining equipment will also enter a bull market, prices will continue to rise, and shortages will intensify,” one of the publication’s sources expressed confidence.
Previously, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes suggested that Trump’s policies might not align with the crypto community’s expectations, and during the inauguration on January 20, digital assets are likely to face a “painful drop.”