Cryptocurrrency projects media coverage in the past few months has been focused on increasing decentralization and security; however, few are tackling the issue of Proof of Work’s high energy consumption.
Many Proof of Work cryptocurrencies require energy-intensive mining operations to attain distributed unanimity; which has lead to a centralization of mining and its block rewards based on geographic location, to keep the cost of running these (as well as the often needed cooling system for running these) still profitable to operate.
Countries like Iceland, for example,admit that more energy is used to mine Bitcoin than to power its residences, while cities like Plattsburgh, New York — a once-popular haven for commercial Bitcoin mining — have imposed strict moratoriums to lessen miners’ growing needs and the surging costs of electricity.
The creator of BitTorrent a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing, used to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet, Bram Cohen is currently working on a new Cryptocurrency project called Chia.
Chia Network uses vacant disk space on hard drives to run a resurrected version of proof of space (PoSpace), co-ordinated with another consensus algorithm, Proof of Time. Chia plans to provide a green alternative to current mining practices, one that decreases the chance of centralization through mining practices.
Mathematical primitives have been worked out and whilst no code has yet been written Chia is currently hiring programmers and the coding will begin soon.
Keep up to date with all the news and learn more at https://chia.net