Shift in Cryptocurrency Mining and Efficiency of ASIC Chips

Discussion on the transition of crypto mining from CPUs to GPUs with Ethereum's shift to proof of stake, impacting GPU demand for purposes like gaming. The chapter explores Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of each in terms of reconfigurability, production costs, power efficiency, and use by Bitcoin miners. Additionally, it explains the profitability of investing in ASIC chips for mining Bitcoin despite their high cost, emphasizing the decreasing rewards over time per block as part of Bitcoin's system.