We've all heard about Proof of Work - mining cryptocurrencies through GPU hashing power or ASICs, now recently Ethereum discusses moving to Proof of Stake instead, staking ethereum to approve nodes gaining you a sort of interest on your stake.
What many perhaps have never heard of is Proof of Space - or Chia farming. Instead of using GPU hashpower to mine Ethereum or any other Proof of Work cryptocurrency or ASICs to mine Bitcoin, you can use SSD drives or harddrives to "plot" Chia.
While at first glance, there are some advantages to this.
- Presumably, its easier to find SSD drives and harddrives than multiple GPUs because of the GPU-crisis.
- The competition is not as fierce as in mining currently
- The creators of Chia boasts that Proof of Space plotting is more enviromentally friendly than GPU mining due to consuming less electricity.
- You can PROBABLY mine Ethereum while plotting Chia at the same time without overloading your PSU
What are some of the drawbacks?
- SSD's are likely to experience a pricing spike if Chia plotting takes off the same way mining has. The space requirement for Chia plotting is already quite huge.
- The enviromental impact is still relevant due to consumption of harddrives and some consumption of electricity from CPU-power
- The halving of Chia will result in Chia progressively will need more space to be plotted effectively, making enough SSD drives unobtainable for the average plotter and perhaps increases the risk if other coins dont use the same kind of technology.
Is Proof of Space the future of cryptocurrencies? Probably not the only alternative in the future but perhaps one of several alternatives?
I will explore this subject more and deduce whenever its worth investing in a serious Chia plotting rig.
Have you tried plotting Chia? Feel free to share your experiences below!
