New Razer Crypto Mining Program Rewards Only Themselves

Say Hello to Razer SoftMiner (Actually, Don’t)

Razer, in partnership with GammaNow has launched the SoftMiner crypto mining program. It is a GPU-based crypto mining program that needs at least an AMD RX 460 or GeForce GTX 1050.

In exchange you will earn Razer Silver coins used in the company’s loyalty rewards program. The company is framing this as a way to use your PC’s idle resources when you are away. So it can earn for you when you are not using it. Except of course, things are not as clear cut as they seem.

Worst Trade Deal in Crypto History?

However, unlike other crypto currency mining efforts, you are not mining for Razer silver directly. In fact, all the money you earn goes to Razer They will be giving you their own virtual currency in its place. In terms of real world value, $20 USD is worth about 1000 Razer Silver coins. Furthermore, this currency can only be spent through the company’s own limited rewards program catalogue. It includes some hardware, coupons, and gear.

Obviously, Razer would not be doing this if they are not taking a larger chunk of the pie for operating costs. The actual Razer silver you earn is not going to reflect directly to your mining efforts. It is going to be earning much, much less in comparison to actually mining crypto directly.

Twitter user Scott Chicken (@scerstt) has done the math and points out how long it will take to earn a 199 GBP Razer keyboard on their website. It will take approximately ~560 days (18 months) to do so, and that is if you are mining at full power.

That’s not even the worst part. The Silver coins you earn this way expires after 12 months. So you are never going to earn enough to buy that keyboard to begin with. (See snippet from SoftMiner’s terms and conditions below):

On top of that, calculate how much you are going to be paying for electricity and other operating costs on your end. Needless to say, this is a very awful deal for gamers.  Hopefully, Razer gets coal in their stocking this year.