Chia Proof of Space 2: the new plot format
A new plot format is coming: why staying pays
Proof of Space 2
Every farmer has to replot, and not everyone will. The daily rewards stay the same, so the farmers who stay share them with fewer others. See what that can mean for you, and how NanoFarmer takes you there.
Proof of Space 2: why keep farming
Chia 3.0 · Proof of Space 2
Chia is moving to a new plot format, and every farmer has to replot. Not everyone will. Chia pays out a fixed amount of new XCH every day, however many farmers there are, so the farmers who replot share it with fewer others. Here is the switch in plain words, what it can mean for you, and how NanoFarmer takes you there.
Same rewards every day, fewer farmers to share them
Keep your disks: the new plots go on the same drives
Words on this page
Plot
A file on your disk full of precomputed data: your tickets in Chia's lottery. More plots, more chances.
Netspace
All plots of all farmers together. Your share of the rewards is your space divided by the netspace.
Block and reward
Plot NFT
A small object on the blockchain that links your plots to a pool. Every plot is made for one plot NFT.
Hard fork
A change of Chia's rules that the whole network switches to at one agreed block.
Phase-out
Plot filter
A quick first check that picks which plots look for a proof at each moment, so your disks are not read all the time.
k-size
The size class of a plot. Today k32 (about 101 GiB) is usual; the new format has only k28 (about 1 GB).
What is changing
Chia 3.0 is the next big version of Chia's software. It brings a hard fork: at one block, the whole network moves to new rules. The biggest change is Proof of Space 2, a new plot format. Farming will need plots in the new format, so every farmer has to replot.
Why? Today some farmers squeeze more out of their disks with GPU compression, and someone with a lot of rented GPU power could fake disk space. Both make Chia behave more like mining with computing power. The new format makes both unattractive, so that disk space is what counts again.
Chia's target; it expected this in November 2026
they keep farming after the fork, with a shrinking chance
one size for everyone, stored in groups
with 8 GB: Chia's minimum, enough for about 2 PiB
What happens to your plots today
Until the fork: nothing. Your plots farm exactly as they do now.
Chance to win, compared with a plot today
After 64 days an old plot still has 75 % of its chance, after 128 days 50 %, after 192 days 25 %.
No reason to start early
New plots earn nothing before the fork, while your old plots still earn in full. Chia's own advice: apart from a few test plots, there is no reason to replot before the fork.
No rush on fork day either
You have the whole phase-out to replot, drive by drive. Chia's FAQ says to replot some time during the transition, at your own pace.
The main reason: a bigger slice of the same pie
Chia creates a fixed amount of new XCH every day, however many farmers there are. That is the pie. Each farmer's slice is as big as their share of the netspace. When farmers leave, the pie stays the same and is shared by fewer.
on average, fixed by the protocol
shared by all farmers by their space
Why many farmers will not be back
NoSSD stops
NoSSD, a big pool with its own plot format and farming software, says it will not make a version for Proof of Space 2. Its pool runs until old plots stop being valid. Its farmers have to replot and move to another pool, or stop.
Not everyone replots
Replotting takes time and a computer that works for days. Some farmers will find it not worth the effort and stop. Chia itself expects some netspace to be left behind, even if most farmers replot.
Compression stops paying
Today compressed plots count for more than the disk space they use: NoSSD's most compressed plots earn 388 % of a normal plot, by its own table. The new format cannot be compressed in a useful way (2–3 % at best, says Chia). That bonus disappears from the netspace, even if every disk is replotted. If your plots are not compressed, you lose nothing.
Try it: what if part of the netspace leaves?
How much of today's netspace does not come back?
drawn larger so you can see it
If nobody leaves, nothing changes: same space, same share.
A scenario, not a forecast
Nobody knows how many farmers will leave, how many new ones will join (new plots are quick to make), what XCH will be worth, or exactly when the fork comes. The slider shows the rule behind it: whatever part of the netspace leaves, everyone who stays shares the same daily rewards among fewer.
A head start during the switch
During the phase-out, old plots count a little less every day while new plots count fully. So the sooner your disks hold new plots after the fork, the bigger your slice, while others still farm their fading old plots.
More reasons to replot
The bigger slice is the main reason. The new format also makes farming simpler and cheaper to run.
Keep your disks
Chia built the new format for hard drives first: farmers can switch without buying new storage. The new plots go on the drives you already have.
A tiny computer is enough
A Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB can farm about 2 PiB. Farming needs no graphics card.
A TiB is a TiB
Compression no longer pays (2–3 % at best, and only with a lot of GPU power). No more race for graphics cards: your plain disks count as much as anyone else's.
Plots that last
Chia does not plan to raise the minimum plot strength before 2036, and expects plots made at the minimum to stay valid for about ten years, though it cannot promise that.
Disks that can rest
New plots are stored in groups, and the network tells 37 seconds to 3 minutes in advance when a group will be checked. That makes it possible to let drives sleep in between (most useful for smaller drives, says Chia).
A safer network
According to Chia, the new format resists attacks with rented GPUs more than 100 times better than today's plots. That protects everyone's rewards.
What replotting costs
Mostly time. You need a computer to make the new plots (a graphics card makes it much faster) and some free memory. Your disks stay the same.
These are Chia's figures for software that is not final yet. Real speeds can differ.
Chia's figures for the lowest plot strength, plotting in RAM. The last column is for your farm size.
PC with a 6-core CPU (Ryzen 5600)
Chia's estimate, based on the RTX 5090
On a CPU: at least 4 GB of RAM. Plotting fully in RAM needs at most 16 GB.
With a graphics card (optional): at least 2 GB of video memory; plotting fully in video memory takes about 12 GB.
Plots are stored in groups (Chia suggests 64 or 128 plots per group). A group of n plots needs about 12 + n GB of RAM and temporary disk space together, so an SSD or even a spare hard drive can stand in for RAM.
New plots are small (about 1 GB each), so you do not need an empty disk: delete a few old plots, write new ones in their place, and go on drive by drive. Old plots keep farming until you delete them.
You need no special hardware: any recent computer can plot, a graphics card only makes it faster. And do not buy disks now just for today's plots: they stop earning after the phase-out.
Your upgrade path with NanoFarmer
What works today, what we plan, and what waits for Chia. The dates are Chia's and can still move.
As soon as Chia sets the final fork block, the NanoFarmer app shows it in its plotter guide, and we announce every step on Discord and on this page.
Farm today's plots with NanoFarmer
Farm your plot NFT plots on XCHPool without running a full node; the pool pays for creating your plot NFT. Every day until the fork counts in full.
Chia releases 3.0
It brings the final fork block, the new farming software and Chia's plotter for the new format.
XCHPool supports the new plot NFT
Chia proposes a new plot NFT and an updated pooling protocol (CHIP-59, still a draft). XCHPool and NanoFarmer follow once Chia has finalised it. Every new plot is made for one plot NFT, so this comes before you replot.
Fork day
New plots start to count. Old plots start to fade, a little every day.
Replot, drive by drive
Make new plots with Chia's plotter while your old plots keep farming; Chia also plans a tool that replots in the background. A plotter for the new format built into NanoFarmer is planned, most likely once the new pooling is here.
Not using NanoFarmer? The steps are the same with Chia's own software: update to 3.0, replot for a new plot NFT, and join a pool that supports the new plots.
Questions and answers
Do I have to replot everything at once?
Will my plots stop working on the fork day?
Should I start replotting now?
No. New plots only count from the fork on, and until then your old plots earn in full. Chia says there is no reason to replot before the fork, apart from a few test plots. The plotting software for the new format comes with Chia 3.0.
Do I need a new plot NFT?
Most likely. Chia proposes a new kind of plot NFT together with an updated pooling protocol (CHIP-59, still a draft). New plot NFTs need plots made for them, and the draft leaves open whether today's plot NFTs stay usable. Make your new plots only when you know which plot NFT they are for; we will say so here and in NanoFarmer.
What about my compressed plots?
They go through the same phase-out as all old plots. The new format cannot be compressed in a useful way (2–3 % at best, says Chia), so new plots are simply uncompressed, and farming them needs no graphics card.
I use NoSSD today. What now?
NoSSD says it will not support Proof of Space 2; its pool keeps running until old plots stop being valid. NoSSD plots only farm on NoSSD, so NanoFarmer cannot farm them. Your disks can be reused: make new plots after the fork and join a pool that supports them, such as XCHPool once it supports the new plot NFT.
Do I need new hardware?
No new disks: the new plots go on your current drives. Farming needs very little: a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB can farm about 2 PiB. For plotting, any recent computer works; a graphics card is much faster.
What if the fork date moves?
Is the bigger slice guaranteed?
No. It depends on how many farmers leave and how many new ones join, and nobody knows what XCH will be worth. What is certain: the rewards per day are set by the protocol, and whoever does not replot stops sharing them.
What is plot strength, and do I need it?
Strength is how much work went into making a plot. Each step up roughly doubles the plotting time; such a plot is checked half as often but is twice as likely to win when it is, so over time it earns the same. Higher strength means less disk activity. The minimum is fine for most farmers.
Details
For the curious. Everything here comes from Chia's proposals, documentation and code.
How the phase-out works exactly
Plot filter and strength
Plot groups
New plots are about 0.92 GiB each and are stored in groups that act like one big plot. Chia suggests 64 or 128 plots per group (128 plots is about 120 GB); a group can hold up to 65,536 plots. Meta groups spread the disk load further; most farmers do not need them.
Block rewards and halvings
Plotting on a Mac
macOS compresses the memory of programs it has run before, which slows plotting down. Chia's advice: start the plotter right after a restart and keep it open.