Chia vs Bitcoin Chia has a new innovative Nakamoto consensus algorithm that removes the extremely high energy demands of Proof of Work from the system. Considering a study from the University of Cambridge that suggests Bitcoin uses up more energy on an annual basis than the country of Sweden, the architects of the Chia network opted for a different system entirely, called Proof of Space. Compared to the mining of Bitcoin, Chia relies on storage capacity instead of computing power which saves power. In the new network the blockchain broadcasts a challenge for the next block which farmers can scan their plots for to see if they have the hash that is closest to the challenge. Whereas Bitcoin needs energy intensive calculations to get the hash needed to get rewards, a farmer’s probability of winning a block is the percentage of the total space that a farmer has compared to the entire network. In addition to that, compared to other cryptocurrencies, Chia has significantly better security