Chia is one of the newest cryptocurrencies on the blockchain, with a current valuation of over $1,000. But before we get into that, let me warn you that it could run out of storage drives at a breakneck pace; the way Chia operates could ruin a 512GB SSD in just 40 days.

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Chia utilizes a "space and time proof" model.

"Chia blockchain users 'seed' unused space on their hard disk drives by installing software that stores a collection of cryptographic numbers on disk in a 'plot'. These users are called 'farmers'. When the blockchain broadcasts the challenge for the next block, the Farmer can scan his plot to see if he has the closest hash to the challenge," Chia's FAQ explains.

Farming in Chia is a write-focused activity. Since speed is important, the most common strategy is to use SSDs for plot creation; SSDs are much faster than HDDs and transfer to HDDs once completed. [One thing that can be said about SSDs, however, is that NAND flash memory cells can only be written to a limited number of times before they wear out. According to a recent study by Backblaze, a cloud storage provider, SSDs fail less frequently than HDDs in normal use.

Chia, however, is a different story: according to MyDrivers, mining Chia will ruin a 512GB in 40 days, while a 1TB SSD will last twice as long, and a 2TB SSD in just 160 days, or just over five months.

The site does not mention which specific drive models fail at such rates, but those would undoubtedly be consumer SSDs with typical TBW (terabyte write) ratings. Most enterprise models are much more durable.

The same goes for TeamGroup's recently announced T-Create Expert, which boasts 12,000 TBW for a 2TB model. To put this in perspective, Addlink's S70, one of the best SSDs for gaming, is rated at only 1,600 TBW for 2TB.

It will be interesting to see if drive manufacturers adjust their warranty terms in response to Chia's farming; TeamGroup advertises a 12-year long warranty on its ultra-durable T-Create Expert, but we asked the company for details and whether it specifically covers Chia mining When we asked if the company's warranty terms for all of its SSDs are based on which occurred first, the warranty period or the TBW limit.

The T-Create Expert's TBW is 7.5 times that of the Addlink S70; assuming MyDriver's statistics are based on a typical SSD like the S70, the T-Create Expert's life may be a little over 3 years. Not bad, although far short of the maximum warranty period. Also, most consumer SSDs are not as durable.

Hopefully Chia will not lead to storage shortages.