Investors are buzzing about Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) after it reached a $1 trillion market capitalization at the end of May. Now trading at just under $400, Nvidia joins a rarefied elite of just four other U.S.-based companies -- Apple, Alphabet, , and Amazon -- with trillion-dollar market valuations. Although Nvidia is obviously a strong play on the future growth of the tech industry, could it also be a sneaky crypto play?

That might not be as insane as it sounds. Nvidia already provides the specialized graphics processing units (GPUs) required for cryptocurrency mining rigs. And Nvidia's recent announcement of a new AI supercomputing platform has already led to a flurry of AI-themed cryptos surging higher over the past week. Here's a closer look at why Nvidia might be a way to get exposure to the crypto industry, without taking on excessive risk.

Until the start of this year, the standard investment thesis for Nvidia as part of a crypto portfolio was based on cryptocurrency mining. To mine proof-of-work cryptos such as Bitcoin, miners need very powerful computing systems called mining rigs. And Nvidia has provided some of the most powerful GPUs used in these mining rigs. In any review of the best GPUs for mining, Nvidia typically ranks at the top of the list. 

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Source Fool.com