Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, has just announced it intends to acquire about 5,000 ATMs with a built-in GPU.
According to the announcement, the bank wants to buy 4,917 ATMs with a graphic card powerful enough to carry out "blockchain operations."
Experts believe the bank has probably decided to buy this type of ATMs because it intends to use them to mine cryptocurrencies.
Crypto mining is done by solving complex mathematical problems. The most suitable devices for mining are ASICs, some special devices designed specifically for mining cryptos, or GPUs (graphics cards), which is what the bank wants these ATMs to include.
Sberbank is the oldest and largest bank in Russia. It has 14,200 branches and about 77,000 ATMs and stores 44% of all personal deposits in the country.
The link between the bank and the state is pretty obvious, as the state is its largest shareholder, while its president and CEO is Herman Gref, former Russian Minister of Economy and Trade.
The bank has reported it intends to spend about $22,000 per ATM, as the total funds for the acquisition of these 4,917 ATMs amounts to $108,501,718.05. The bank makes it quite clear in the announcement that one of the technical requirements that ATMs must meet is to have a "graphic card with support for Nvidia Cuda and possible blockchain operability."
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