What is Chia cryptocurrency and why is it bad news for hard drives?

I hold no Chia or crypto at all, however, from what I am seeing around me, Chia is going to be really, really big.

I asked this recently but the topic died before I got many answers. Basically, I’m not a cryptocurrency denier. I just don’t understand it. Do people want cryptocurrency because they want to spend it on stuff? Or do they want cryptocurrency because they want to sell it for other currencies? In other words, at what point will a cryptocurrency stand on its own as something that’s worth a pair of shoes? Instead of being something that people invest in to eventually sell for dollars with which they they buy shoes? Again- I know I just don’t understand. My original question:

1 point by theshadowknows 4 days ago | parent [–] | on: The Last Days of Satoshi: What Happened When Bitco...

Bitcoin and other crypto/alt currencies are so interesting to me. Partly because I do not understand them: If I mow your lawn and you pay me in the locally accepted fiat then I can use that fiat to buy hotdogs and fuel for my lawn mower because the gas station itself will accept that fiat. The gas station will accept that fiat because its vendors, creditors, and employees also accept it. And the chain goes on. If however I mow your lawn and you pay me in bitcoin I'll need to find a gas station that accepts it. Many likely exist. But, how many of their vendors, creditors, and employees also accept it? Some, no doubt, but I'd wager not all would. So, even though these currencies no doubt represent massive potential they're still somewhat limited in terms of adoption. Obviously this is becoming less true over time which I think is a good thing - competition isn't something fiat currencies tend to have to deal with, but they sure could use it. My real misunderstanding is 'why' people accept these currencies in the first place. In other words - people accept a United States dollar because it is worth one United States dollar. However, it seems that most people accept bitcoin (or bitcoin fragments) not because they are worth some percentage of bitcoin but exactly because they are worth some amount of United States dollars. Is that true? Is the primary reason that bitcoin has become more popular that an investor can spend 10,000 fiat on it - wait a year - and then extract 15,000 fiat from it?

> Is the primary reason that bitcoin has become more popular that an investor can spend 10,000 fiat on it - wait a year - and then extract 15,000 fiat from it?

It seems to be true.

We can always hope that trading Chia is made illegal, along with proof of work algorithm based currencies in general.

Governments so-far failing to regulate existential threats to themselves is honestly odd.

Can anyone explain the algorithm a bit?