Chia Farming Profitability Calculator
Estimate your XCH rewards and farming ROI based on network space and hardware costs.
How to Calculate Chia Farming Rewards
Chia (XCH) farming uses a consensus mechanism called "Proof of Space and Time." Unlike Bitcoin, which relies on computational power (ASICs), Chia relies on empty hard drive space. To calculate your potential earnings, you need to understand the relationship between your local storage and the global Netspace.
The standard unit of storage in Chia is the k32 plot, which occupies approximately 101.4 GiB (Gibibytes). The chance of winning a block is your percentage of the total network space. The network generates 4,608 blocks per day, with each block currently rewarding 2 XCH (note: this subject to halving events).
The Math Behind the Calculator
Our Chia calculator uses the following logic to determine your farming yield:
- Total User Storage: Plots × 101.4 GiB.
- Win Probability: (User Storage / Netspace) × 4,608 blocks per day.
- Power Consumption: (Watts × 24 hours / 1000) × Electricity Cost per kWh.
Example Calculation
Suppose you have 1,000 plots (approx. 100 TiB) and the global Netspace is 30 EiB. If XCH is trading at $40 and your electricity cost is $0.12/kWh for a 100W setup:
- Your storage is roughly 0.00032% of the network.
- You would earn approximately 0.015 XCH per day.
- Your monthly revenue would be ~$18.00.
- Electricity would cost ~$8.64/month, leaving a net profit of ~$9.36.
Key Factors Influencing ROI
Netspace Growth: As more farmers join the network, the global Netspace increases, effectively "diluting" your share and reducing your daily rewards if you don't add more plots.
Plot Compression: New technologies like Gigahorse and BladeBit allow for "compressed plots," which take up less physical disk space but require GPU power to harvest. This can increase your effective storage capacity but increases power consumption.
Pool vs. Solo: Small farmers are encouraged to join "Pools." While the rewards are the same over time, pooling provides a steady daily income, whereas solo farming with a small number of plots might result in months of waiting for a single 2 XCH win.