Hardware Inflation Reshapes Crypto Mining and Storage Economics

As per MarsBit, the surge in memory and storage hardware prices is disrupting the economics of PoW mining and decentralized storage networks. DDR5 memory prices have doubled in six months, while HBM3e chips for AI accelerators are driving a global reallocation of semiconductor resources. This shift is increasing operational costs for miners and storage providers, forcing a reevaluation of economic models and network decentralization. Filecoin and Monero are among the most affected, with rising hardware costs pushing smaller players out of the market. Meanwhile, DePIN protocols like Render and Akash are leveraging the scarcity of physical resources to gain competitive advantages.