Comparing Previous Generation to New Generation Mining Rigs

A constant theme that comes across from experienced miners is that the previous generation rigs have better returns than new generation rigs. Anyone that has purchased a reliable used car has had this similar experience - the used car gets you around as well as a new car but your basis is significantly lower.

Using September 2021 data from Hashrateindex, we looked at the topline returns on a per rig basis for a Bitmain Antminer S9 released in 2017 versus a model S19.

Besides price, the differences the analysis takes into account are Hash Rate and Power Consumption. When looking at these factors the previous generation has a profit divided by machine cost of 1.87x versus 0.63x for the model S19.

Considerations around physical space, equipment maintenance and lifespan need to be factored in as well but the top line value cannot be ignored.