How is Chia farming evolution following its planned course?
Investigating developments surrounding the Chia Blockchain, this article delves into the much-anticipated “Halvings” event, a cornerstone of Chia’s innovative approach to cryptocurrency. Spearheaded by Chia strategists, an in-depth look is offered on how the halving process is set to reshape the landscape of farming the Chia coin (XCH) digital currency.
As we navigate through the intricacies of this event, not long after Gene Hoffman and Justin England’s recent Q1 AMA 2024 event, we will see how the article guides us through the strategic implications of block reward reductions and plot filter reductions for Chia farmers and the impact on the broader ecosystem, highlighting Chia’s commitment to sustainability and security in the ever-evolving world of blockchain technology.
In 2024, the Chia blockchain will undergo two halvings – a block reward reduction and a plot filter reduction. These are separate events, but both are important to Chia’s future. Chia Network made this announcement to help clarify what is changing, when the events will occur, and what action (if any) is required by their users.
Block Reward Reduction
When
March 20241
Why
The block reward reduction was built into the blockchain’s emission schedule for two primary reasons:
- To ensure that a large amount of XCH would be released into circulation in the first few years of the network’s existence
- To limit the inflation rate of XCH over the long run
About
After block 5,045,760, the block reward will be cut in half, from 2 XCH to 1 XCH. Each block reward will continue to be split into two coins, where 7/8 of the reward is the pool coin, and the other 1/8 (plus fees) is the farmer coin. Over the following nine years, the network will experience three more reward halvings, with the last occurring after block 20,183,040 – currently estimated to be in the first half of 2033. We built these reward reduction events into the blockchain before the launch of mainnet and outlined the schedule in the documentation and white paper.
Action Required
No action is required by users. For Chia farmers, the rewards (in XCH terms) will be cut in half. This includes pool payouts, as well as farmer rewards. Sites such as xch.farm/calculator can help to plan accordingly.
Plot Filter Reduction
When
June 2024
Why
In the coming years, it will become feasible for Chia farmers to create and delete plots every 20 seconds or so rather than creating them only once and storing them on disk for many years. Plot grinding, as this process is known, would not affect the security of the network. However, it would result in wasting an excessive amount of electricity.
As a community, Chia decided via CHIP-12 that the best way to prevent plot grinding would be to cut the plot filter in half. This will make plot grinding cost-prohibitive, even after it becomes technically feasible.
About
Currently, for each signage point broadcast to the network, 511 out of every 512 plots are ineligible to submit a Proof of Space.
This can be thought of as a game of bingo, where a new game is played every 10 seconds or so. If a farm has 512 plots, it has the equivalent of 512 bingo cards. For each game, only one card per farmer will be eligible to play, on average. Their computer will calculate whether that card is a winner. Ten seconds later, another game will occur, and a different card will likely be eligible to play. This filter is fair because it affects everyone equally. Farmers can continue to use the same cards in future games.
In June 2024, the plot filter will be reduced from 512 to 256. Sticking with the bingo analogy, if a farmer has 512 cards, then after the filter has been reduced, on average two cards will be eligible to play in each game. Their computer must then do twice as many calculations to determine whether one of their cards has won.
Unlike the block reward halving, the filter reduction was not built into the network from day 1. Instead, it was added as a result of CHIP-12.
For technical information about the plot filter, see Chia’s consensus documentation.
Action Required
Prior to the filter halving in June 2024, farmers must upgrade their farm/node to version 2.1.0 or later. If they do not upgrade, they risk losing farming rewards.
Beyond upgrading, whether they need to take any action to prepare for this change depends on their farm’s composition.
Because twice as many plots will be eligible for each Proof of Space challenge after the filter has been reduced, their harvesters will require roughly twice as much compute in order to keep up with the network. For small farms, and those using uncompressed plots, the current requirement for compute is likely quite low. For example, perhaps their harvester is only running at 5% capacity today, so after the filter reduction, it will require 10%. In this case, no action is required.
On the other hand, if their harvesters are running at over 50% capacity today, then they will be at over 100% after the filter reduction. As a result, harvesters will be unable to look up all the proofs of space required to keep up with the network. In other words, they might have a winning bingo card and not realize it.
For those using BladeBit plots, our documentation lists several techniques to determine your farm’s capacity. Those using plots from other vendors must use tools compatible with their plot format to make the same determination.
Farmers should plan for this reduction to avoid missing out on any rewards.
Further information and support can also be found on Chia Discord.
Disclaimer
The information provided on this page does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and it should not be treated as such.
This content is the opinion of a third party and this site does not recommend that any specific cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held, or that any crypto investment should be made.
The Crypto market is high-risk, with high-risk and unproven projects. Readers should do their own research and consult a professional financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
