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chia-network/chia-blockchain

★ 10,847PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5Setup · hard

TLDR

Chia is a cryptocurrency that uses hard drive storage space instead of energy-intensive mining to secure its network, and this is the full Python implementation including wallet, farmer, full node, and harvester components.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Chia Blockchain))
    How it works
      Proof of space
      Proof of time
      Plot files
    Components
      Full node
      Farmer
      Wallet
      Timelord
    Tech
      Python 3.10+
      Chialisp
    Features
      Pooling support
      GUI and CLI
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Set up a Chia farming node on a machine with spare hard drive space to earn Chia coins passively.

USE CASE 2

Run a full Chia node to independently validate and store the complete transaction history.

USE CASE 3

Join a farming pool to combine storage with other farmers for more consistent block rewards.

USE CASE 4

Write smart contracts in Chialisp to handle conditional coin spending on the Chia blockchain.

Tech stack

PythonChialisp

Getting it running

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1day+

Requires Python 3.10+, significant free disk space for plot files, and time to sync the full blockchain before farming rewards begin.

In plain English

Chia is a cryptocurrency designed to use storage space rather than raw computing power as the basis for its network security. Instead of the energy-intensive mining process used by Bitcoin, Chia relies on what it calls proof of space and time. Participants, called farmers, allocate unused hard drive space to store cryptographic data called plots. When the network needs to validate a block, it checks whether a farmer holds a matching piece of stored data, rewarding those who do with newly created Chia coins. This repository is the full Python implementation of the Chia blockchain, which includes the components needed to run different roles on the network: a full node (which validates and stores the entire transaction history), a farmer (which participates in consensus), a harvester (which manages the plot files on disk), a wallet (which handles coins and transactions), and a timelord (a specialized role running cryptographic proofs that most users do not need to set up themselves). The software comes with both a graphical interface and a command-line interface. Most users install the farmer, full node, and wallet components. The timelord and seeder components are described as being for more advanced users. Python 3.10 or newer is required to run it. Chia also has its own programming language called Chialisp, described as a Lisp-style functional language intended for writing programs that handle money. The consensus model supports pooling, so smaller farmers can combine their storage to earn more consistent rewards. Installation instructions and an introductory guide live in the official Chia documentation rather than in this README, which links out to docs.chia.net for the details. Community channels include Discord, Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing chia-blockchain on Ubuntu, setting up a full node, syncing the chain, and starting the wallet from the command line.
Prompt 2
Explain how Chia's proof of space and time consensus works compared to Bitcoin's proof of work, using plain language and no jargon.
Prompt 3
How do I set up a Chia farmer that manages plot files spread across multiple hard drives using the harvester component?
Prompt 4
What is Chialisp and how do I write a simple smart coin that locks funds until a specific condition is met?
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