I agree that it is simply an excess of demand, the whole bitcoin rant though. Really? There is a demand for semiconductors that exceeds supply. You have made a

I agree that it is simply an excess of demand, the whole bitcoin rant though. Really? There is a demand for semiconductors that exceeds supply. You have made a leap that the current demand driver is bitcoin and its consumption of GPUS. As much as I appreciate the sentiment that Bitcoin is a waste, that leap doesn't hold up when you look at the actual numbers for semiconductor demand. The number one demand item for 7nm semiconductors is cell phones. If you read the various analysts reports you will find this sums it up well: It(demand) is mainly driven by the increasing demand for consumer electronics and the integration of semiconductor into several devices across sectors like automotive, industrial, communications, military, and others. (that is from this report[1] that for $2500 you too could read it (https://www.marketreportsworld.com/global-semiconductor-market-15660994 https://www.marketreportsworld.com/global-semiconductor-mark...)) During the pandemic it appears that everyone upgraded their TV (at least in the US) which, not surprisingly, consumes a lot of semi-conductors. The pandemic has also botched a lot of logistics which will sort itself out but these small bumps can cause unusually large ripples in the supply chain because so many industries are built around "just in time" delivery of raw materials. Semiconductor manufacturing is a process that is intolerant of frequent line starts/stops. So TSMC, knowing that new fabs cannot come online instantly, has chosen to risk alienating their customers a bit by raising prices to capture the value associated with their assets (productive plants) during this period. [1] To be clear, I didn't pony up the $2500, I looked at a number of sites that reported on the contents of the reports and pulled quotes from them. Market information is itself a market.