{"id":37396,"date":"2021-06-01T11:22:18","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T08:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=37396"},"modified":"2025-08-29T16:23:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T13:23:56","slug":"what-is-chia-network-chia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/what-is-chia-network-chia\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Chia Network (CHIA)?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What is Chia Network (CHIA)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Attention! The article is outdated and awaiting an update.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Chia Network (CHIA<\/a>) is a blockchain platform for creating and executing smart contracts written in the Chialisp<\/a> programming language.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What problems does Chia Network address?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the view of Chia\u2019s creators, bitcoin mining harms the environment and requires powerful computing resources beyond the reach of most users (the environmental issue is examined in an exclusive article).<\/p>\n

Chia seeks to address these problems by combining key parameters of PoW blockchains with new technical solutions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What does the name \u201cChia\u201d mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chia is positioned as an \u201ceco-friendly\u201d cryptocurrency because its production uses energy\u2011efficient hard drives and solid\u2011state drives.<\/p>\n

To underscore its \u201cgreen\u201d character, the creators named it after chia blanca (Spanish sage) \u2014 a plant<\/a> native to Central America that was a key crop for the Aztecs. Chia seeds contain more calcium than milk. In recent years they have become popular among vegetarians in the United States, and the EU has officially recognised chia as a \u201cnovel food\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Who created Chia, and when?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chia was created by American programmer and BitTorrent founder Bram Cohen. In August 2017 he registered in San Francisco the company Chia Network<\/a>, which develops the Chia blockchain. The company\u2019s president is former Nasdaq head Gene Hoffman, and its chief financial officer is former Overstock head Mitch Edwards.<\/p>\n

Since March 2018 the company has raised about $77m in financing via SAFE<\/span> agreements. The latest round, for $61m, closed in May 2021. Backers included venture funds Andreessen Horowitz, Galaxy Investment Group, DCM Ventures, True Ventures, Richmond Global Ventures and others. The round valued the company at $500m.<\/p>\n

The Chia mainnet launched<\/a> on 19 March 2021.<\/p>\n

On 3 May 2021 developers enabled transactions on the network. Trading in Chia began on several exchanges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How does Chia Network work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Chia blockchain uses a mining method based on Proof\u2011of\u2011Space (proof of space) and Proof\u2011of\u2011Time (proof of time).<\/p>\n

The concept was presented in September 2017 by Bram Cohen and other researchers in the paper \u201cBeyond Hellman\u2019s Time-Memory Trade-Offs with Applications to Proofs of Space\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They proposed a mining process that uses a computer\u2019s disk space rather than its computing power. In this approach, the chance of producing a block is proportional to the amount of space allocated divided by the network\u2019s total capacity. According to the authors, this method is more environmentally friendly than Proof\u2011of\u2011Work and more economical.<\/p>\n

The process of minting coins in Chia is called farming, and users who produce coins are known as farmers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Farming<\/strong> has two stages: plotting<\/strong> and harvesting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Plotting<\/em><\/p>\n

With Proof\u2011of\u2011Space, a user proves that there is free space on the computer\u2019s hard drive. Plotting requires a high\u2011performance drive used as a buffer for temporary data storage. The minimum buffer is an SSD of more than 356.5 GB. This is enough to \u201cseed\u201d a plot of 108.8 GB. Plotting one plot takes from four to 12 hours.<\/p>\n

The plotting process does not require an internet connection and consists of the following phases:<\/p>\n