In 2022, everyone is familiar with the term “Crypto Mining.”. It is the easiest way to make money, people believe. According to MyDrivers, recently, Chinese customs seized over 5840 counterfeit XFX graphic cards, which were believed to be used for crypto mining.

Chinease Customs Seize GPUs
Source: Chinese Customs

Pine Technology Holdings Limited, based in Hong Kong, owns XFX. The company’s headquarters are present in California (US), but it also has subsidiaries in other countries, such as China. This Asian branch is said to be in major problems with the Chinese Customs Office when a shipment of graphics cards was discovered with mislabeled specifications, presumably to reduce the import fee.

A batch of graphics cards with falsified specifications and models, totalling 5,840 pieces, was recently seized, according to an official statement from China Customs. These cards are worth over 20 million yuan or 3.15M USD.

China Seize GPUs
Official Statement, Source: Chinese Customs

“It was found that 3 of the graphics card labels were covered by other labels, it was found that the specifications and models displayed on the actual labels that were covered did not match the declared specifications and models, so the batch of graphics cards was sampled and submitted for inspection in accordance with the law” – Custom Release.

An official video was also released by the Chinese customs, in which it could be interpreted that the graphic cards are from XFX, and the model is often believed to be the RX 6700 XT’s international variant.
In the past, the XFX company has been accused of selling its graphics cards directly to Crypto Mining farms, and it has also been previously claimed that the entire batch of XFX 5000 series cards was sold to Crypto Miners in China.
If these claims are true, it’s possible that this is yet another attempt by XFX to illegally mislabel specifications on cards in order to avoid paying high taxes.

XFX Graphic Card
Picture of Graphic cards seized Source: Chinese Customs.

The authorities have not confirmed if XFX’s Chinese operation is directly implicated, although the company’s website has been down for several days. The company’s main store on the T-mall retail website has likewise closed.

XFX officials have not yet reacted, although the main website of XFX China has been temporarily disabled following an investigation, indicating that the Tmall flagship store has vanished and the Jingdong flagship store is still operational.

XFX Chinese Website Down
XFX Chinese website shutdown, Source: XFX CHINA

According to MyDrivers, there are claims that other firms, not just Xunjing, are engaging in similar practices, including as many as 150,000 graphics cards, but there is no way to verify this. There was no official source provided for this claim, and it was merely an assumption observing the current situation.

It’s astonishing to see a situation like this arise at a time when Crypto has been steadily losing popularity since its recent slump. However, everyone should be cautious when purchasing a graphics card because it appears that some people may end up with a second-hand mined card. It is highly recommended that you purchase new graphic cards directly from the retailer and avoid second-hand graphic cards unless they come from a reliable source.

Many concerns and speculations remain a mystery about this circumstance and what we might expect in the future. Will there be another graphics card shortage? Will the crypto-currency market have another major upswing? Only time will tell.

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Avinash Jaisrani
[News Reporter] Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.