The emergence of storage-based Chia cryptocurrency has put the cat among the pigeons in the storage industry, sparking a race for high-capacity hard drives and exacerbating existing supply problems. One market player in particular took note. In a Q&A email with TechRadar Pro, due to launch in full tomorrow, storage hardware giant Seagate revealed that it's keeping a close eye on the space, with an eye to potentially launching a new line of purpose-built drives. When asked about the possibility of companies developing storage products specifically for cryptocurrency use cases, Jason M. Feist, who heads Seagate's emerging products arm, said it was a "possibility." Feist said he couldn't offer any specific information at this time, but suggested the company "explore this opportunity and imagine others might as well."
Storage-based cryptocurrencies
Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, which pit miners against each other and are extremely power-hungry, the Chia network operates under a system known as proof-of-space. Using this method, so-called farmers (note the deliberate difference in terminology) reserve storage space to store cryptographic numbers, called parcels. “When the blockchain broadcasts a challenge for the next block, farmers can scan their plots to see if they have the closest hash to the challenge. The probability of a farmer winning a block is the percentage of the total space that a farmer has in the entire network,” the Chia website explains. However, while the proof-of-space removes the need for compute-based mining, the excitement around the Chia Project has reportedly led to shortages in several regions. Reports have also suggested that Chia can extract readers from consumers at an alarming rate. In the same way that Nvidia has resorted to releasing a line of mining-specific GPUs to protect supply and improve mining performance, it's not out of the question that storage gamers do something similar. When asked about the viability of storage-based cryptocurrencies, Feist explained that Seagate is ultimately unbiased, but recognizes both the demand and the opportunity. “We are not arguing for or against cryptocurrencies. We just understand that there is a need,” he told us. "Because our high-capacity storage hard drive is world-class and in high demand, crypto miners and farmers have asked for advice, and we can offer it." He also noted that companies may have an opportunity to take advantage of this trend by monetizing unused storage capacity. “Whether it happens or not, the sustainability of blockchain and decentralization is an inevitable reality. It's time to make room for it: in our readers, our transactions, and in areas that have yet to be discovered. "