PoC (Proof of Capacity) is a consensus algorithm with multiple superior characteristics and huge application potential. As an important branch of today’s existing consensus mechanisms, PoC is still undiscovered and underrated by the market. A truly fair, open and meaningful project was needed to convey the decentralized concept of PoC to the world, so we launched Lava.

PoC has better decentralization characteristics than PoW, while ensuring the same level of security and openness. PoC is based on storage device mining while miners compete for block forging by providing larger storage capacity to ensure network security. Compared with PoW’s hash computing devices, PoC’s storage devices consume only a small fraction of electric power. Thus PoC is cleaner and easier to help consensus achieve wider geographical distribution. In addition, storage devices, as the most general and universal hardware of global IT infrastructure, leaves no space for “ASIC-lization” and monopolization by any individual or organization. PoC is a totally permissionless, open and fair network where “capacity power” could join or withdraw anytime, anywhere and threshold-free.

Considering the versatility and universal usage of storage devices, PoC is a consensus mechanism that has the potential to achieve the highest degree of decentralization in the future. We also believe that, the market size of specific hardware equipment, can to some extent imply the upper limit of the consensus ecosystem that mines with the equipment. From the perspective of hardware industry market data, mechanical hard disks(HDD) alone has a scale of 20–25 billion US Dollars and 300 million units of annual shipment. Compared with the scale of 10–15 billion US dollars and 50 million units of annual shipments of external GPUs, we can draw the conclusion that the storage equipment market has all the capability to cultivate an ecosystem of PoC mining no less than GPU mining in size.

In fact, Lava’s birth benefited from PoW miners’ recognition and support of the PoC consensus. China is a top bitcoin producer in the globe and has formed a super-large scale mining industry. However, the high energy consumption and geographical centralization of PoW have disrupted the local energy markets and the construction of energy infrastructure to some extent. This issue is not limited to China. A large number of PoW miners are looking for another alternative that can replace PoW or at least complementarity. PoC is the best solution at present.

We have collected the annual changes in the total capacity computing power of the entire network since the birth of PoC (2014–2019), and found that this exponential growth trend is more in line with PoW’s computing power growth curve:

Mining Power Trend of PoC and PoW

It can be seen that PoC still has the momentum to maintain rapid growth, and the total capacity computing power will still increase significantly. Since there is no “substitution effect” between PoC and other existing consensus mechanisms, it is expected that once the PoC ecosystem explodes, the market can easily accommodate 1 Top10 and 2 ~ 3 Top30 PoC projects. In fact, Lava has grown from zero to the second-largest PoC project concerning capacity power within half a year of operation. Lava accounts for about one-third of the total PoC capacity power at present and is steadily marching towards the real leadership of the PoC consensus.

The features of PoC determine that it has strong similarity and complementarity with PoW. Considering that storage devices have a very high degree of versatility and universal usage as IT infrastructure, we believe that PoC can form a market value of the same order of magnitude as PoW in the medium and long term.