Depreciation
Depreciation is the loss of an asic's value over its working life. It takes no money out of your account, yet it belongs in the payback math alongside electricity.
What depreciation means for a miner
In accounting, depreciation is a way to spread a one-time purchase over several years. A miner cares about a different one, the market kind: what your asic is worth today compared with what you paid for it.
The fall comes in two steps rather than smoothly. The first is a new generation arriving: an asic with the same efficiency suddenly turns into yesterday's. The second is a halving: income per terahash gets cut in half, and the whole secondary market is repriced.
Hence an unpleasant conclusion about the decision to hold or to sell. A third line goes into the math beside revenue and electricity: how much the asic lost in price over that same month. On electricity it can stay profitable while eating up what you put in through the fall in value.
It works the other way as well. When the price of hash goes up, the secondary market gets dearer, and the same asic wins back part of the value it lost. So a single snapshot tells you nothing; the thing to watch is the trend.
Quick reference table
| What it is | the loss of an asic's value over its working life |
| Visible on a bill | no, no money leaves the account |
| Two steps of the fall | a new generation and a halving |
| Where it belongs | in the payback math alongside electricity |
| What to watch | the trend rather than a single snapshot |
How to work it out for your asic
Look at what your model sells for on the secondary market now. Take the middle of several listings rather than one.
Subtract that figure from your own purchase price and divide by the number of months it has worked. That gives you monthly depreciation in money.
Add it to electricity and the rest of your OPEX. Compare revenue against that sum, and the decision to hold or sell becomes obvious.
Redo the math before a halving rather than after. Afterwards the secondary market is already repriced, and the choice gets made without you.
An example of the math
Take your own three figures: what you paid, what the same asic sells for now, how many months it has worked. The difference divided by the months is the hidden part of your costs. Add it to the electricity bill and you will see whether the asic works for you or eats up what you put in.
Related terms
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Questions and answers
Why count something that never leaves the account
Because that money is money you lose. Selling the asic earlier, you would have got more for it, and the difference is your real cost.
How fast do asics lose value
Unevenly: quiet months and sharp steps on a new generation and on a halving. That is why it gets counted from current listings rather than from a formula.
Is depreciation part of a profitability calculator
No, the calculator counts revenue and electricity. Depreciation you add to the result yourself.
How the terms connect
Every link in the chain is clickable. Orange marks where you are now.
Looking for an ASIC miner
The catalog holds 212 models. You can compare them by hashrate and by joules per terahash, then plug your own rate into the calculator and see what stays in your pocket.
Page written and checked by Denys Klimchuk. Updated .