这款加密货币自称环保，能否取代比特币？
一款声称具有环保特性的新加密货币于上周开始交易。这款名为奇亚币（Chia）的虚拟货币由Chia Network打造，它标榜自己是一款绿色生态友好型加密货币，能够替代比特币（Bitcoin）。
尽管加密货币近期的价格出现了飙升，但因为其开采和交易过程中的大量碳足迹而备受诟病。“开采”比特币和以太币（Ethereum）这类虚拟货币会消耗大量能源，因为这些网络背后的计算机需要一步一步地解开方程式，而矿工为了最终取得虚拟货币，则要为这些被用于确认区块链上交易的强大矿机支付账单。（这个流程名为“工作量证明”）。
为改变这一现状，奇亚币提供了另一种途径，它称自身所用流程的能耗要比挖矿低得多。该代币于5月4日开始交易，价格约为一枚1600美元，后来飙升至1934美元，然而其在Coinbase的价格于5月9日下午暴跌至1060美元，跌幅达到了40%。不过对在历史上充满波动的数字资产来说，这种跌宕起伏的经历都是必经之路。
D.A. Davidson报道Coinbase这类加密货币交易所的研究总监吉尔·卢里亚表示：“加密货币资产将继续保持其波动性。”然而，他对奇亚币的绿色宣言感到惊讶，他对《财富》杂志说：“它在市场上应该会有一定的需求。”
奇亚币的交易代码为“XCH”，由BitTorrent的创始人布拉姆·科恩于2017年创造。公司网站称，像安德森-霍洛维茨（Andreessen Horowitz）和Greylock Partners这类极具分量的投资公司都注资了科恩的项目。与比特币等加密货币所使用的耗能型工作量证明流程相比，奇亚币采用了其所谓的“空间和实践证明”（proof of space and time）。该流程是借助硬盘上闲置存储空间作为其验证区块链交易的方法。奇亚币称这种方式不是挖矿，而是“种矿”。
有鉴于其技术的独特性，人们可以在家轻松地“种矿”（至少目前是如此），它与比特币挖矿行业不断扩张数据中心的普遍做法有着很大的区别。人们对奇亚币的兴趣已经促使那些可能会成为矿主的人士将目光投向了硬盘，甚至在这款加密货币开始交易之前引发了东南亚硬盘的短缺现象。
“并非是什么新事物”
当然，这种方式也非完全是绿色的。Chia Network称，它依然会使用能源，但要低于比特币这类加密货币。
然而，并非只有奇亚币一家公司在削减能耗并提供可能“更环保”的替代流程。名为“权益证明”（proof of stake）的另一种流程在近些年不断发展壮大。以太币正计划在未来几个月中将其挖矿流程调整为权益证明，在这个流程中，权益者将持有的加密货币作为抵押物，以确保获取区块链网络，而不是矿工，同时也无需运行高能耗计算机。
卢里亚称，加密货币行业的节能减排举措“并不是什么新事物”。他表示，人们之所以对权益证明如此之感兴趣，部分原因在于“工作量证明会给环境和资源带来的大量负担”。
一些评论家指出，奇亚币的挖矿（或“种矿”）流程依然取决于硬件，而且如果其网络的规模扩大之后，这个流程可能会破坏其低能耗的价值主张。
Ava Labs的总裁约翰·吴（音译）称：“我担心的是，当这种虚拟货币在发展壮大之后，其空间和时间证明模式将会与比特币的工作量证明相当，也就是你最终必须购买更多的设备才能够得到回报。”Ava Labs拥有自己的权益证明区块链平台Avalanche。约翰·吴指出，然而，奇亚币的“单位能耗可能比比特币更低。”（在公司自己看来，Chia Network在其白皮书中称，公司预计“种矿模式比工作量证明或权益证明更为去中心化，而且可以大幅减少能源和资源消耗。”）
卢里亚认为：“更加[环保]当然能够作为一个卖点，来吸引一部分加密货币业界人士。”然而他指出，推翻比特币和以太币长期的统治对任何初出茅庐的加密货币来说都不是一件轻松的事情。
在全球各地不断涌现的加密货币中，奇亚币只不过是其中一个缩影罢了，而那些与D.A. Davidson的卢里亚有着共同看法的人认为，“市场上很有可能会出现更多可以带来独特价值的加密货币资产，而且这些加密货币也会有一定的受众。”（财富中文网）
译者：冯丰
审校：夏林
一款声称具有环保特性的新加密货币于上周开始交易。这款名为奇亚币（Chia）的虚拟货币由Chia Network打造，它标榜自己是一款绿色生态友好型加密货币，能够替代比特币（Bitcoin）。
尽管加密货币近期的价格出现了飙升，但因为其开采和交易过程中的大量碳足迹而备受诟病。“开采”比特币和以太币（Ethereum）这类虚拟货币会消耗大量能源，因为这些网络背后的计算机需要一步一步地解开方程式，而矿工为了最终取得虚拟货币，则要为这些被用于确认区块链上交易的强大矿机支付账单。（这个流程名为“工作量证明”）。
为改变这一现状，奇亚币提供了另一种途径，它称自身所用流程的能耗要比挖矿低得多。该代币于5月4日开始交易，价格约为一枚1600美元，后来飙升至1934美元，然而其在Coinbase的价格于5月9日下午暴跌至1060美元，跌幅达到了40%。不过对在历史上充满波动的数字资产来说，这种跌宕起伏的经历都是必经之路。
D.A. Davidson报道Coinbase这类加密货币交易所的研究总监吉尔·卢里亚表示：“加密货币资产将继续保持其波动性。”然而，他对奇亚币的绿色宣言感到惊讶，他对《财富》杂志说：“它在市场上应该会有一定的需求。”
奇亚币的交易代码为“XCH”，由BitTorrent的创始人布拉姆·科恩于2017年创造。公司网站称，像安德森-霍洛维茨（Andreessen Horowitz）和Greylock Partners这类极具分量的投资公司都注资了科恩的项目。与比特币等加密货币所使用的耗能型工作量证明流程相比，奇亚币采用了其所谓的“空间和实践证明”（proof of space and time）。该流程是借助硬盘上闲置存储空间作为其验证区块链交易的方法。奇亚币称这种方式不是挖矿，而是“种矿”。
有鉴于其技术的独特性，人们可以在家轻松地“种矿”（至少目前是如此），它与比特币挖矿行业不断扩张数据中心的普遍做法有着很大的区别。人们对奇亚币的兴趣已经促使那些可能会成为矿主的人士将目光投向了硬盘，甚至在这款加密货币开始交易之前引发了东南亚硬盘的短缺现象。
“并非是什么新事物”
当然，这种方式也非完全是绿色的。Chia Network称，它依然会使用能源，但要低于比特币这类加密货币。
然而，并非只有奇亚币一家公司在削减能耗并提供可能“更环保”的替代流程。名为“权益证明”（proof of stake）的另一种流程在近些年不断发展壮大。以太币正计划在未来几个月中将其挖矿流程调整为权益证明，在这个流程中，权益者将持有的加密货币作为抵押物，以确保获取区块链网络，而不是矿工，同时也无需运行高能耗计算机。
卢里亚称，加密货币行业的节能减排举措“并不是什么新事物”。他表示，人们之所以对权益证明如此之感兴趣，部分原因在于“工作量证明会给环境和资源带来的大量负担”。
一些评论家指出，奇亚币的挖矿（或“种矿”）流程依然取决于硬件，而且如果其网络的规模扩大之后，这个流程可能会破坏其低能耗的价值主张。
Ava Labs的总裁约翰·吴（音译）称：“我担心的是，当这种虚拟货币在发展壮大之后，其空间和时间证明模式将会与比特币的工作量证明相当，也就是你最终必须购买更多的设备才能够得到回报。”Ava Labs拥有自己的权益证明区块链平台Avalanche。约翰·吴指出，然而，奇亚币的“单位能耗可能比比特币更低。”（在公司自己看来，Chia Network在其白皮书中称，公司预计“种矿模式比工作量证明或权益证明更为去中心化，而且可以大幅减少能源和资源消耗。”）
卢里亚认为：“更加[环保]当然能够作为一个卖点，来吸引一部分加密货币业界人士。”然而他指出，推翻比特币和以太币长期的统治对任何初出茅庐的加密货币来说都不是一件轻松的事情。
在全球各地不断涌现的加密货币中，奇亚币只不过是其中一个缩影罢了，而那些与D.A. Davidson的卢里亚有着共同看法的人认为，“市场上很有可能会出现更多可以带来独特价值的加密货币资产，而且这些加密货币也会有一定的受众。”（财富中文网）
译者：冯丰
审校：夏林
A new cryptocurrency that claims to be climate-friendly debuted in trading last week. The virtual coin, called chia and created by a platform called the Chia Network, advertises itself as "a 'green,' eco-friendly alternative" to Bitcoin.
Despite their astronomical recent performance, cryptocurrencies are lately coming under fire for their massive carbon footprints. "Mining" virtual coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum uses tons of energy as the machines behind these networks churn away at solving equations. For miners' efforts—that is, paying bills to operate powerful computers that confirm transactions on the blockchain, the distributed ledger technology underpinning cryptocurrencies—they receive coins as a reward. (The process is called "proof of work.")
Chia presents an alternative to the status quo, relying on a process that it claims is far less energy-intensive than mining. The coin started trading on May 4 at around $1,600 a pop and rose to as high as $1,934, but had sunk over 40% to roughly $1,060 as of May 9 afternoon, per Coinbase. Yet such of slumps are part and parcel for the historically volatile digital assets.
"Crypto assets are going to continue to be volatile," says Gil Luria, director of research at D.A. Davidson, who covers the likes of crypto exchange Coinbase. But he's not surprised by chia's green messaging: "There's going to be some demand for that," he tells Fortune.
Chia, trading as "XCH", was conceived by BitTorrent founder Bram Cohen in 2017. Heavy-hitting investment firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners are backing Cohen's project, according to its site. Instead of the energy-draining proof of work process used by the likes of Bitcoin, chia uses what it calls "proof of space and time." The process uses unused storage space on hard drives as part of its method of verifying blockchain transactions. Instead of mining, chia calls its process "farming."
Because of its unique technology, chia can be "farmed" easily at home (at least for now)—a big difference from the sprawling data centers that dominate Bitcoin mining. Interest in the coin has already prompted would-be miners to scoop up hard drives, even creating a shortage in Southeast Asia in the lead up to the coin's trading launch.
“Not a new effort”
The method isn't totally green, of course. It still uses energy, but at lower rates than the likes of Bitcoin, Chia Network claims.
But chia's process isn't the only one that cuts down on energy usage and presents a possibly "greener" alternative. Another process, called "proof of stake," has been gaining ground in recent years. Ethereum is planning in the coming months to switch its mining process over to proof of stake, wherein stakers—rather than miners—put up crypto holdings as collateral in order to secure a blockchain network, rather than by running energy-consuming computers.
Attempts to go green in the cryptocurrency industry are "not a new effort," says Luria. Part of the reason there's so much interest in proof of stake is due to "the big toll that proof of work takes both on the environment and on resources," he says.
Some critics point out that chia's mining (or "farming") process still relies on hardware, and should the network become big, that could potentially undermine its energy-efficient value proposition.
"I do worry that when they do grow, this proof of space and time has kind of the same methodology [as] proof of work, like Bitcoin, and their model is: you ultimately have to buy more equipment to get paid," says John Wu, president of Ava Labs, which has its own proof-of-stake blockchain platform, Avalanche. Wu notes that chia is, however, "probably, on a per unit basis, more efficient" than Bitcoin. (As for the company, Chia Network claims it expects the "farming will be more decentralized than Proof of Work or Proof of Stake and significantly less energy and resource intensive," per their whitepaper.)
"Being more [environmentally-friendly] certainly could be something that would attract a certain part of the crypto community," Luria suggests. But toppling Bitcoin and Ethereum's longstanding supremacy, he argues, won't be an easy feat for any up-and-coming coin.
Chia is but one of a cornucopia of cryptocurrencies popping up everywhere, and those like D.A. Davidson's Luria believe "it's quite possible that there will be many more crypto assets that add a unique value and will have some level of following."
