BitTorrent network inventor Bram Cohen has announced new cryptocurrency Chia - a more eco-friendly alternative to Bitcoin (Bitcoin), TechCrunch reported.
Considering that Bitcoin mining requires as much electricity as it takes to power an American home for a week, Cohen has come up with a solution which uses a different blockchain verification method to cut down on energy waste.
Chia is described as a "better digital money" that's more secure, more decentralised and more energy efficient than the current cryptocurrency leaders. The new cryptocurrency will be based on proofs of time and storage rather than Bitcoin’s electricity-burning proofs of work. Essentially, Chia will harness cheap and abundant unused storage space on hard drives to verify its blockchain.
“The idea is to make a better bitcoin, to fix the centralization problems” Cohen said. “I’m not the first person to come up with this idea,” says Cohen, but actually implementing requires the kind of advanced computer science he specializes in.
Chia's still in development and won't be released to the public until next year. The team is actively recruiting for more people to join the project. Although Chia's not the only blockchain to consider moving away from proofs of work, it is thought to be the first to actually put the concepts into use. It'll be available for "everyone" to invest in as a more accessible and eco-friendly blockchain network.