Finding new bitcoins requires huge amounts of computing power and has become a highly competitive industry. Some high-powered computers used for bitcoin mining can cost up to US$20,000.

As bitcoin mining hardware requires the use of a central processor and graphics processing unit, Taiwanese computer motherboard manufacturers such as ASRock and Biostar and IC designers like Global Unichip and Alchip Technologies have become major beneficiaries of the bitcoin craze.

Arguably Taiwan’s the biggest beneficiary is Taiwan Semiconductor, which has signed on to be the contract manufacturer for two of the world’s largest makers of high-end graphics cards, American technology companies NVIDIA and AMD.

Read the full article in China Times here.