Chia, one of the latest cryptocurrencies developed two years ago but just recently launched its mainnet, is working on an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
The plan was confirmed by Chia Network Inc. Chief Operating Officer Gene Hoofman and comes at a time when the project received a considerable influx of investments owing to its claim of becoming the next “green bitcoin substitute.”
As opposed to crypto leaders bitcoin and ethereum that rely on proof-of-work consensus, chia boasts of relatively low energy consumption as it depends on a proof-of-storage-time consensus algorithm for its farming (mining).
Raising much-needed funds
Recently, the network that was founded by Bittorrent creator Bram Cohem was able to raise $60 million in a funding round, giving the cryptocurrency a $500 million valuation.
Richmond Global Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz are just two of the companies who led the funding round for Chia Network Inc. Hoffman, meanwhile, assured the funds hauled from their fund-raising event will be leveraged in hiring additional manpower and in promoting the digital asset as a viable alternative for more valuable coins such as bitcoin and ethereum.
Chia’s ultimate goal
Even before their mainnet launch that happened just recently, Chia’s ultimate goal has always been to go public quickly as that will show the features of its regulatory environment and allow customers to use its cryptocurrency to offset public market volatility.
Hoffman said the latest round of investments to their network made them more confident about what they can achieve with their anticipated initial public offering.
Helping the case of chia is the growing environmental concerns that have led to the slump of major cryptocurrencies, causing the crypto market to nosedive steeply. As its farming method doesn’t rely on the energy-intensive proof-of-work mechanism utilized by bitcoin and ethereum, it claims to be a greener alternative.
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