Cloud storage and data backup company Backblaze published a blog post today outlining its search for the answer to a relatively simple question: Would

Even 'Free' Chia Farming Wouldn't Be Profitable at Scale, Cloud Storage Provider Finds

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2021-07-10 14:00:01

Cloud storage and data backup company Backblaze published a blog post today outlining its search for the answer to a relatively simple question: Would it make sense for the company to farm the Chia cryptocurrency using the HDDs it keeps as a buffer to allow its cloud storage platform to scale quickly? Well, it turns out the answer is a resounding no.

The company said the online Chia Calculator initially put its weekly earnings at $250,000 before expenses. It also wouldn't have the same upfront costs as other wannabe Chia farmers because it could simply use the HDDs in its buffer to devote 150 petabytes to plots. Unfortunately, free storage space isn't the only factor at play.

Backblaze noted that creating a plot is an intensive task requiring "a multi-core processor with fast cores so you can make multiple plots at once (parallel plotting) and a high amount of RAM." Plotting is tough on drives too. The company said the process involves "about 1.8TB of reading and writing" to start.

Even if Backblaze wanted to purchase enterprise SSDs capable of handling that strain, that $250,000 weekly payout was based on the amount of storage devoted to the Chia network and the value of a single Chia coin (XCH) at the time of calculation. So it attempted to predict future earnings based on the network's expansion.

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