NewScientist recently featured an article shedding light on the Chia cryptocurrency and its profound impact on the global supply chain of hard disk drives. Chia utilises an innovative proof-of-space (also known as proof-of-capacity) technology, aiming to surpass the energy-intensive proof-of-work system employed by Bitcoin in terms of environmental friendliness. However, this pursuit of Chia coins through the ownership of vast amounts of free storage space has sparked a worldwide surge in demand for hard disk drives and other storage components. The production and operation of these physical drives require significant energy, raising concerns about the ecological sustainability of this technology.
In the article, Professor Aggelos Kiayias, the Director of the Blockchain Technology Lab, shared his viewpoint on the matter with NewScientist. He emphasised, “given the current numbers, being merely less resource hungry compared to bitcoin is a rather low bar as far as ‘green’ technology is concerned.”
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