Backblaze unveils Chia cloud-mining service; experts doubt its profitability

Backblaze offered Chia miners to host plot files on the B2 cloud platform at $5 per 1 TB per month.

The functionality of the new service was tested with a limited number of miners. According to Backblaze, their platform is fully compatible with the Chia mining algorithm.

This does not remove a number of restrictions that users will face. Initially, plot files (plots) must be generated on their own hardware. The cloud can be used only for storage and the actual mining of the cryptocurrency.

According to Chia Calculator, the monthly return from using 1 TB storage at the coin’s current price is $5.28. However, as network space grows, efficiency will decline. The same tool shows that over six months a user could mine about $6.78, paying $30 for cloud storage.

In its statement, Backblaze also emphasized that the service is experimental. Currently, the storage capacity for Chia miners is limited to 100 TB; it can be increased by contacting the sales department.

The instructions for uploading Chia plots to the B2 platform are published in the ‘b2fs4chia’ repository on GitHub.

In April, the German hosting provider Hetzner banned mining on its servers after users began mining cryptocurrency Chia with them.

Earlier, Amazon Web Services proposed using its system to mine the coin, but on the same day removed the information from the site.

According to experts, mining Chia reduces the lifespan of a 512 GB SSD from five years to two months. However, the coin’s creator Bram Cohen stated that this does not apply to enterprise SSDs or hard drives.

What is Chia Network (CHIA)?

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