ASRock, AMD's graphics card maker, said demand for graphics cards may be slowing in China. The company, traditionally a component maker, began dabbling in Radeon graphics cards just as a wave of cryptocurrency demand was coming in, but now it is showing signs of a slowdown.

ASRock expects sales to grow in the coming months despite a shortage of components (we know all about them) and shrinking demand for cryptocurrency mining cards in China, Digitimes (via Tom's Hardware) reports

. China has the highest hash rate for cryptocurrency mining, meaning more GPUs and ASICs are chipping away at the blockchain than anywhere else. The declining demand could be indicative of a more global trend, or it could be that China's crackdown on crypto is actually affecting the market.

More specifically, ASRock expects shipments of AMD GPUs to increase in the second half of this year.

After that, he says, everything remains fairly uncertain. However, we would like to think that there is hope of getting Radeon RX 6000 series chips by Christmas. However, I would like to think there is hope of getting a Radeon RX 6000 series chip by Christmas.

So is this the end of the cryptopocalypse in PC gaming? Mining profitability ebbs and flows over time, but there have been periods of high profitability for large corporate mining operations and even at-home miners.

However, there is a glimmer of hope: ethereum, the most popular blockchain network for GPU mining, plans to discontinue mining "in the coming months." Instead, it plans to implement a proof-of-stake consensus system. This means that GPUs will no longer be needed to validate transactions across the network, which will at least reduce the demand for cards for ethereum mining.

This is because GPU miners may shift their interest to one of the many other cryptocurrencies that still use the proof-of-work consensus system.

Most cryptocurrencies are at yearly lows following Bitcoin's price plunge in May, which may mean that some miners are starting to feel the squeeze on their profits. Nevertheless, many cryptocurrencies are still worth much more than they were last year.

The point is that news of declining demand could be good news for PC gamers in a graphics pinch. Cryptocurrencies are volatile and their fortunes can change in an instant.