We all know that Bitcoin mining can be very costly, and it has been reported that it is draining electricity supplies. But now, it has been reported that mining for cryptocurrencies could be having an adverse effect on the search for aliens. This is ultimately due to the fact that scientists require computer power in order to search for extra terrestrials and it seems that the two are being pitted against each other. Miners are being driven by monetary incentives, which is making it more appealing, but this is causing them to purchase more GPUs in order to get more power, which will enable them to solve more equations and get more money. This would be ok, if searching for alien life did not require so much computing power as well, leaving extra terrestrial scientists frustrated by their inability to find GPU’s.It appears that a number of astronomers are having a tough time trying to get GPU’s as well. A grant was issued to the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionisation Array in South Africa from the National Science Foundation after it was revealed that the price of GPU’s had actually doubled. The price of Bitcoin hit an all time high in late 2017, and this price boom benefited other mineable currencies as well. However, of course, this increased price led to increased demand, and a price rise in GPU’s, leading to shortages of the product. Anyone that is interested in the crypto world would know about the crash of prices that we have seen at the beginning of this year. It is unsure what this drop could mean for miners, but experts have warned that the prices could drop even further. Essentially, mining is a bit of a gamble, and when you take into consideration the rising GPU prices to the highly volatile cryptocurrency prices, it becomes a risky game.