Working capital for hardware production. The estimate often quoted is that a production run of ASICs costs $1 million and people who can green light them will

Working capital for hardware production. The estimate often quoted is that a production run of ASICs costs $1 million and people who can green light them will accept a variety of payment methods like a) a wire paid in advance and b) see a. Many companies which previously sold ASICs, particularly those in China (which is slightly advantageous for developing a close relationship with the supply chain necessary to build ASICs to order), have squirreled away their profits from selling boxes wholesale/retail, done this math, stopped selling boxes, and now do entire production runs and operate them for their own benefit. This is one of the primary things driving the network's hash rate through the roof. A data center of consistent hardware operated by experts absolutely ROFLstomps (on any efficiency metric) versus making consumerized versions of that hardware, losing 50% to the wholesale/retail discount, and then having that consumerized hardware get operated as a cloud made manifest in enthusiasts' spare bedrooms.