Sia is a decentralized cloud storage platform similar in concept to Dropbox and other centralized storage provider where instead of renting storage space from a centralized entity, clients rent storage space from other peers. The only difference is Sia uses blockchain to facilitate transactions Nodes provide storage to clients using the Sia blockchain as contracts. Before storing the data, the data is encrypted into many pieces and uploaded to different hosts. Siacoin is created by David Vorick and Luke Champine of Nebulous Inc. As the traditional storage platforms are higher in cost, more expensive and data is not well protected. Siacoin promises to offer secured storage transactions with smart contracts which is more affordable and reliable. Moreover, it is completely open source which means many individuals have contributed to Siacoin’s software hence there will be an active community building innovative applications on top if the Sia API. In 2018, Siacoin aims to introduce file sharing and be the go-to cloud storage platform for companies. Their goal is divided into 3 time frames which are short-term, medium-term and long-term development. Short-term development focuses on file sharing between Sia users. This allows Sia users to share files in the platform without having to take it off the cloud while increasing network utilization. Medium-term development’s goal is to enhance partnerships. This means reaching out to large companies like Netflix and Dropbox to hopefully be able to be their storage and distribution framework. Lastly, long-term development aims to expand its horizon to share files with non-Sia users and support mobile wallets.
Users can employ unused hard disk capacity to mine Bitcoins without the need for expensive mining rigs and other specialized hardware. Traditional mining hardware is energy intensive, noisy, produces a lot of heat, and is becoming increasingly specialized, moving beyond the means of ordinary people. With BHD, mining is simple and accessible. POW-based mining is all about raw computing power and energy output, whereas BHD's POC-based mining is far more energy efficient and returns to Satoshi Nakamoto’s original ideal that mining would be decentralized and performed by ordinary people. POC (Proof of Capacity) scans are only performed once every few minutes. For the rest of the time the hard disk is on stand-by with negligible power usage, greatly reducing energy costs. Based on capacity proof, it will support super-large blocks in the future and will add functions such as zero-knowledge proof. Solid-state drives are expensive, POC has no requirement for fast data processing, only capacity, so POC naturally eliminates ASIC chips. Currently, the amount of energy expended globally in POW mining is greater than the total energy output of 159 countries. The development of digital currencies shouldn’t have to be built on the wasting of resources. With BHD, POW calculations can be completed with a minimum of computing and energy resources.