This crypto claims to solve bitcoin's biggest problem By Alexis Benveniste, CNN Business Updated 10:24 AM EDT, Thu May 06, 2021 New York(CNN Business)Bitcoin may be the king of cryptocurrencies, but it's facing an environmental backlash over the energy-intensive technology underpinning it. A new crypto called chia says it's the eco-friendly alternative. Like most digital currencies, chia runs on a decentralized ledger system known as blockchain. But unlike bitcoin, chia, which was founded by the inventor of BitTorrent, claims it has a much smaller carbon footprint with its mining process of verifying and recording transactions. Chia logged its first trades this week, joining a crowded crypto scene at a time of frenzied investor interest in alternative digital assets. What is chia? The Chia Network created the coin in 2017 with a focus on the environmental implications of digital currency "mining" — the highly specialized, energy-intensive computing process that creates new coins by solving complex equations. The key difference between chia and other cryptos, according to its founders, is its "proofs of space and time" method of verifying transactions that utilizes unused disk space on users' hard drives and is more energy-efficient than bitcoin's "proof of work" model. The Chia Network was founded by Bram Cohen, who also invented the peer-to-peer file-sharing system BitTorrent, and has already won backing from prominent investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Naval Ravikant. How does the process work? Every cryptocurrency has its own method for verifying transactions, typically by using the collective computer power of miners, who are paid for their help in cryptocurrency. The chia mining process, which the Chia Network calls "farming," relies on using empty computer storage space instead. Chia's "proof of space and time" process allows network participants to show that they have been physically storing data over a certain period of time, according to Coin Market Cap. This doesn't resemble the mining process of