Clear DefinitionsProof-of-Space
1 min read
Pronunciation
[proof-uhv-spays]
Analogy
Think of Proof-of-Space like renting warehouse space: you commit physical storage capacity, and the more space you dedicate, the greater your chance to earn rewards.
Definition
A consensus mechanism that requires participants to allocate unused disk storage to prove they have reserved space, rather than expending computational energy as in Proof-of-Work.
Key Points Intro
Proof-of-Space achieves consensus through the following key aspects:
Key Points
Storage commitment: Validators dedicate disk space rather than CPU cycles.
Chia plots: Data structures precomputed and stored to demonstrate capacity.
Energy efficiency: Significantly lower power consumption compared to PoW.
Verifiable challenges: Network issues random challenges that require proving stored data.
Example
In the Chia network, farmers generate large plot files on their drives. When a challenge arrives, they scan these plots for a proof; the farmer with the best proof wins block rewards.
Technical Deep Dive
Participants generate 'plots'—Merkle trees of pseudorandom data—written to disk. On each block challenge, the protocol specifies a challenge seed; farmers compute short proofs by reading specific plot indices. Proofs are verified by checking Merkle branches against known root hashes. The scarcity of storage and randomness of challenges secures the chain.
Security Warning
If plot files are duplicated or an attacker gains large storage control, they can dominate block production; ensure diversity of farmers to avoid centralization.
Caveat
Large storage farms can centralize, and disk wear from frequent reads may reduce hardware longevity.
Proof-of-Space - Related Articles
No related articles for this term.