Chia Coin is a new cryptocurrency founded by Bram Cohen, who also invented the BitTorrent protocol. The Chia Network blockchain is written in the Chialisp programming language and works on the classic consensus algorithm described in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, but instead of the energy-intensive Proof-of-Work mechanism (proof of work), another one is introduced — Proofs-of-Space-and-Time (proof of space and time).
For mining, this cryptocurrency, hard drives are used, and mobile phones, laptops, and other devices equipped with a hard drive are quite suitable.
The name of the Chia project refers to the name of the chia plant, whose seeds and other elements play an important role in a healthy diet. Founder Bram Cohen developed the Chia blockchain with the goal of creating a greener solution than that used by Bitcoin. At the time, it was related to the concept of farming, used both in agriculture and cryptocurrency mining.
How the proof of space and time works
While in PoW the user must prove the work he has done, in PoS he must stake, PoT in conjunction with Proof-of-Space means proof of the availability of free space on the hard disk. The overall security of the network is enhanced by the consistency between proof of space and proof of time.
Features of the algorithms:
- Proof-of-Space. Users, using special software, “seed” the space with sets of cryptographically encrypted numbers. This process is called plotting, and separate areas of space are called rafts. When the network issues a task that must be completed to create the next block, farmers scan their plots and look for a hash suitable for solving it. Depending on the percentage that the user’s space occupies compared to the total network space, the probability of winning is determined.
- proof of time. It takes a certain amount of time to transfer data from one block to another. Checkable latency minimizes power wastage and also eliminates the benefit of using multiple parallel devices in parallel.
- Compared to other crypto coins, Chia Coin runs on a more decentralized and therefore more secure blockchain. Smart transactions on the network are programmed in a fundamentally new language, Chialisp, which also facilitates auditing.