22 min
Chia: What is It and How Do You Farm It - Episode 259 Piltch Point (Audio)
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- Technology
DescriptionIf you follow the cryptocurrency world, you've likely encountered Chia - the new currency that works differently from all the others. Normally, coins are mined through a process called "proof of work." This requires a lot of computing power, which in turn requires a lot of electrical power. The reward is a coin in the corresponding currency, whether it be Bitcoin, Etherium, Doge, or others. But Chia doesn't use proof of work, and instead uses a Proof of Time and Space algorithm.
This altered process doesn't rely heavily on processing power, but instead on storage. Tom's Hardware has a rundown on what is needed, but the concept is modeled on farming. You have a hard drive, which is untamed land. You create a plot on that land in order to farm. You plant your seeds and wait for your number to be chosen in order to reap the rewards.
The biggest issue with farming Chia is that blocks come to you on a random lottery system. So, you could be waiting for a very long time before one of your plots matures, or you could hit two in a row. There is absolutely no telling or predicting how or when you might receive anything for your time. In other systems, there is a bit of the unknown involved, in that you are never guaranteed a block to mine. But, blocks are readily available, and the amount of work for one is enough to distribute between multiple systems. Plus, most crypto systems start to assign blocks to known entities - essentially individuals or pools that are guaranteed to complete a block. Chia is working to add pooling in order to offer wider distribution of rewards, but unlike with Bitcoin, it's not quite the same compromise being made to join a pool.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
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DescriptionIf you follow the cryptocurrency world, you've likely encountered Chia - the new currency that works differently from all the others. Normally, coins are mined through a process called "proof of work." This requires a lot of computing power, which in turn requires a lot of electrical power. The reward is a coin in the corresponding currency, whether it be Bitcoin, Etherium, Doge, or others. But Chia doesn't use proof of work, and instead uses a Proof of Time and Space algorithm.
This altered process doesn't rely heavily on processing power, but instead on storage. Tom's Hardware has a rundown on what is needed, but the concept is modeled on farming. You have a hard drive, which is untamed land. You create a plot on that land in order to farm. You plant your seeds and wait for your number to be chosen in order to reap the rewards.
The biggest issue with farming Chia is that blocks come to you on a random lottery system. So, you could be waiting for a very long time before one of your plots matures, or you could hit two in a row. There is absolutely no telling or predicting how or when you might receive anything for your time. In other systems, there is a bit of the unknown involved, in that you are never guaranteed a block to mine. But, blocks are readily available, and the amount of work for one is enough to distribute between multiple systems. Plus, most crypto systems start to assign blocks to known entities - essentially individuals or pools that are guaranteed to complete a block. Chia is working to add pooling in order to offer wider distribution of rewards, but unlike with Bitcoin, it's not quite the same compromise being made to join a pool.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
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22 min