Buying PC graphics cards has been incredibly difficult for almost a year now, but at least for folks in China, things are quickly returning to normal. As a result of the country's ongoing crypto ban, Nvidia and Asus GPU prices are now more affordable than they've been in months.

Cryptocurrency has exploded in popularity throughout 2021. Some people believe it to be the next big thing in global currency, others are just in it to make a quick buck, and plenty of folks have lost a lot of money trying to ride the (incredibly) unpredictable waves. As one might expect, not everyone is a fan of where crypto is headed. After banning cryptocurrency mining operations in the Yunnan, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia provinces, China recently extended its ban to Sichuan. Furthermore, The People's Bank of China ordered many of the country's top financial firms to deny accounts with ongoing crypto activity.

Related: Why Nvidia Is Reducing RTX Ethereum Hash Rate

This ban resulted in massive price drops for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other cryptos. As reported by South China Morning Post, it's also substantially impacted GPU prices throughout the area. Take the Nvidia Quadro P1000, for example. The entry-level card from 2017 was selling for around 3,000 yuan (~$463 USD) in May, but as of June 21, it was down to 2,429 yuan (about $375). The Asus RTX 3060 saw an even greater decrease. After selling for a heart-stopping 13,499 yuan ($2,085) a couple of months ago, the card is now down to just 4,699 yuan ($726).

Why GPU Prices Are Going Down Now

Nvidia RTX 3090 against a background of Bitcoin coins

Less expensive GPUs are great, but why are prices suddenly lowering after being so expensive for months on end? In short, GPUs are a critical component for mining cryptocurrency. Especially with higher-end GPUs, their fast performance is essential for mining various currencies at an effective rate. With a powerful GPU, people can mine more crypto in a shorter amount of time. With all crypto prices trending upwards over the past year, there's been a rush for people to mine as much crypto as possible before anyone else.

With crypto mining now banned from so many areas in China, the need for high-end GPUs has suddenly been lessened by an incredible amount. There's still demand from people that need GPUs for other needs, but without crypto miners chomping at the bit to buy them up as quickly as possible, things are quickly leveling out. Whether or not China's right to ban crypto mining like this is another discussion entirely, but what is clear is that it's made a substantial impact on GPU availability. For Chinese gamers, artists, and renderers that have been struggling to buy a reasonably-priced GPU for months, now is the time to act.

Next: How Much Nvidia's New RTX 3080 Ti GPU Costs

Source: SCMP