Gamers invest considerable sums in the GPU chips that power their computers. However, even the most hardcore “Fortnite” player can leave his or her gaming rig on idle for a major chunk of every day while they go to work, attend school, or — at the terribly least — sleep. Hardware manufacturer Razer says that it’s a shame that these costly devices aren’t being used to their full potential, that is why they require gamers to let them use their idle GPUs to mine cryptocurrency.
Razer Releases Cryptocurrency Mining software
To that finish, the Singaporean gaming giant, that has twin headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco, on Wednesday disclosed cryptocurrency mining software that allows customers to earn passive income from their gaming rigs when they aren’t being used.
Once installed on a customer computer, the client — known as Razer SoftMiner — will stay dormant while the pc is in use and then activate once the GPU is idle.
It's not clear what cryptocurrency or cryptocurrencies the software can mine, though networks like Monero and Ethereum (at least until Ethash ASICs become widely distributed) are in style choices for GPU miners.
Razer isn’t the first hardware manufacturer to encourage gamers to install cryptocurrency mining software that utilizes idle GPU power. Last month, Asus introduced an identical service that it developed in partnership with Quantumcloud and said would facilitate computer owners gain a passive income stream.
Razer Gets Cryptocurrency; Users Get Rewards Points
However there’s one major difference between the 2 programs. Whereas gamers who mine crypto exploitation Asus chips can cash out directly in fiat through PayPal or WeChat, Razer customers receive payment through the company’s loyalty rewards program, Razer Silver.
According to the firm’s website, users with the “proper setup” will earn roughly 500 Razer Silver per 24 hours. This rewards token, in turn, will be used to purchase one of the less than 100 items listed in the Razer Silver catalog, and miners can notice that their tokens don’t have much buying power.
The cheapest item in the Razer Silver catalog could be a $5 discount code to the most Razer storefront, which is able to set users back 1,500 credits. That works out to about $1.67 per day or $0.07 per hour — excluding the value electricity.
If users wish to pay their funds outside of Razer’s walled garden, the credits become even less valuable. A $10 gift card to ThinkGeek or Domino’s pizza costs 14,000 credits, which might take an optimized rig running round the clock nearly a month to accrue. This works out to expected revenue of simply $0.36 per day or one-and-a-half cents per hour.
Moreover credits expire once 12 months, which implies that even users who maintained a “proper setup” and mined 24 hours a day for a complete year would notice that their balances (182,500) fell nearly 100,000 credits short of the most expensive item in the catalog, the 280,000 credit Razer huntsman Elite that retails for $200.
Is Razer’s Crypto Mining Service worth it? Most likely Not
Remember those are probably best-case scenarios, ones that take Razer’s projections at face value. In reality, revenue should decline at regular intervals as different miners upgrade their hardware to quicker GPUs. This wasn't lost on Razer’s Twitter followers, several of whom panned the promotion.
"This is the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever,” wrote one user, channeling his or her inner Donald Trump. “Seriously? this can be an early April fools joke right?” asked another.
Considering how competitive cryptocurrency mining has become, one wouldn't expect to create a fortune lending out their idle GPU power, significantly since the third-party intermediary will take a cut of the proceeds. However, given the unattractive revenue figures touted by the company itself, one should seriously question whether it’s worth it to utilize the service at all.
Nevertheless gimmick though it's going to be, Razer’s cryptocurrency mining push does represent another instance of this nascent technology and asset category wading further into the mainstream, which should provide crypto enthusiasts something to cheer regarding against the backdrop of an otherwise dismal market.
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