Graphics cards aren’t the only hardware items being hard hit by the cryptocurrency craze. As Chinese hardware site HKEPC reports, hard drives and solid state drives are now being targeted by miners in Hong Kong due to the increasing popularity of Chia (XCH), a digital coin that’s mined by leveraging the free space of storage devices and their read/write operations. According to Hong Kong authorities, 4 TB to 18 TB drives have been flying off shelves for the past few days, with prices rising from $200 to $600 HKD.
Hard Drive and SSD Shortages Are Imminent If This New Cryptocurrency Blooms https://t.co/40wzU64TMF pic.twitter.com/0RFfSGlU3r
— Tom’s Hardware (@tomshardware) April 17, 2021
Recently, a brand new Chia coin appeared. It is the founder of BT software, Bram Cohen. A lot of reading and writing operations are involved. Although the Chia coin has not been officially listed for trading, miners have begun to snap up SSD/HDDs, which has caused the price of SSD/HDD to soar recently. It is worth noting that Chia Coin is not officially traded, and the future prospects are not clear.
Sources: HKEPC, Tom’s Hardware