Share this article
AMD: Cryptocurrency Mining Isn't 'A Long-Term Growth Driver'
Chip maker AMD has seen its sales buoyed in recent months by big demand for graphics cards by cryptocurrency miners.
By Wolfie Zhao
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 6:46 a.m. Published Jul 28, 2017, 10:00 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Chip maker AMD has seen its sales buoyed in recent months by big demand for graphics cards by cryptocurrency miners.
According to its latest financial report, AMD recorded $1.22 billion in revenue during the second quarter of 2017, up 19% compared to the same period last year. This increase, the company said, is being spurred "by higher revenue in the computing and graphics segment."
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Yet cryptocurrency mining isn't part of its long-term strategy for growth, according to Lisa Su, the firm's president and CEO, who remarked on the phenomenon during a Q2 earnings call this week.
However, that state of affairs could change depending on how the situation progresses in the months ahead.
Su said during the call:
"Relative to cryptocurrency, we have seen some elevated demand. But it's important to say we didn't have cryptocurrency in our forecast, and we're not looking at it as a long-term growth driver. But we'll certainly continue to watch the developments around the blockchain technologies as they go forward."
Mining is an energy intensive process by which new transactions are added to a blockchain. In return for adding a new blocks, miners are awarded with new tokens, with the profits being derived from the difference between the energy expended and the prevailing exchange rate of those tokens.
Much of the demand for graphics cards, or GPUs, is being driven by ethereum miners. Bitcoin mining, by comparison, is accomplished through special-purpose computers designed for that singular purpose.
Graphics cards image via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Bitcoin and ether volatility trading gets easier with Polymarket's new contracts
Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex's bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices.
What to know:
- Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex's bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices, allowing users to bet on how high volatility will get in 2026.
- The contracts pay out if volatility indices reach or exceed a preset level by Dec. 31, 2026, letting traders wager on the intensity of price swings rather than market direction.
- Early trading implies roughly a one-in-three chance that bitcoin and ether volatility will nearly double from current levels.
Top Stories
