You seem to be missing my point. That would be a complete new device IE a new piece of hardware. The original, and the one you hypothetically just mentioned would have very distinct hardware (IE the tape out of the chip would be very different). The same can, and is accomplished with the GPU now, with merely new software. Yes everything has “ASIC qualities” but these two devices are literally at opposite ends of the spectrum, with CPUs being the FAR left as they are general purpose by design. Why is that important. You can either buy the ASIC hardware again and again for each coin type you want to mine (sometimes you can do 2 or 3 algo’s if they can fit whats needed in the chip design) or you simple have to write software for a CPU or GPU, and reuse the hardware you already own. That’s the difference, re-use == long term value. ASICs like Antminers have a finite shelf life, they will either be obsolete due to new hardware coming out (expected) or obsolete due to algo change (they can’t adapt). CPU/GPU do not suffer from that limitation.
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