Lack of GPU for Cryptocurrency Mining threatens search for extraterrestrial life

Graphics cards for video games, or GPUs, have been scarce in the market for some months due to the high demand they have for cryptocurrency mining. But now not only the so-called gamers or players are being affected by this shortage; now the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the SETI project is blocked its plans to update its platform due to the lack of GPUs , established an astronomer member of the project.

Dan Werthimer, the co-founder and chief scientist of the SETI @ home project who directs the search for radio broadcasts, told the BBC that all the purchasing efforts of the most recent GPUs have been unsuccessful.

For some years now, Bitcoin has not been mined with GPU due to the high processing demands it supposes. However, many other cryptocurrencies do. Even new bitcoin bifurcations changed their SHA256 hashing algorithm - used by bitcoin - just to be able to continue using those graphics cards, as happened with the Bitcoin Gold fork in November 2017. Also, the latest version of mining software XMR-stak, for cryptocurrencies that use the CriptoNight algorithm, allows mining with CPU and GPU , combined or separately.

Although the objectives of mining - solving cryptographic riddles - bear no resemblance to the search for radio emissions that occupy SETI scientists, both tasks involve the processing of large amounts of data. "That requires enormous computing power," says Werthimer. Only in Berkeley, the SETI facilities use 100 GPUs, says the researcher.

Last December, Nvidia launched its most powerful GPU, the Titan V, which was very well received by the miners because, tested in the blockchain Ethereum, reached a hashrate of 77MH/s; twice the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, though five times more expensive.

Last week, the CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, before an increase in sales in the last quarter of 2017 greater than expected, that "this year, the world will begin to make peace with the existence of cryptocurrencies." Huang has asked retailers to focus on the players and not the miners.