PNY LX2030 and LX3030 SSDs are optimized for Chia (XCH) cryptocurrency plotting

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are wildly popular these days. Whether or not it's smart to invest in these digital currencies is up for debate. Of course, the same can be said about any investment -- including stocks. With that said, cryptocurrency volatility can cause you to lose a lot of money. Still. some people have become very wealthy with crypto. Ultimately, your mileage may vary.

Unfortunately for some cryptocurrency investors, many of the coins are being vilified for their negative impact on the environment. If you aren't aware, "mining" many of these cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, require computers with high-end graphics cards that use a lot of electricity. Elon Musk even famously tweeted Tesla would stop accepting Bitcoin due to the horrific environmental impact.

Thankfully, not all cryptocurrencies are mined equally. Some coins are worse for the environment than others. Chia, for instance, has less of an impact, making it a "green" alternative comparitively. In fact, Chia mining, or "plotting" uses storage drives, such as SSDs, rather than graphics cards. This makes it much more affordable than trying to mine Bitcoin, for instance.

Today, popular manufacturer PNY launches two M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 SSDs that are optimized for Chia (XCH) cryptocurrency plotting. These drives have been created in partnership with Phison. Called LX2030 and LX3030, both offer a read speed of 3,200MB/s. However, the former provides a write speed of just 1,000MB/s while the latter achieve a write of 2,400MB/s.

"The PNY family of LX drives take advantage of Lifextension technology to offer a Chia plotting TBW rating of up to 54,000 in the LX3030 2TB. To deliver such a high Plotting TBW, the LX series of PNY SSDs utilize an advanced AI Engine, LDPC and Flash I/F to improve NAND endurance, making them the best unit cost for plotting. Without sacrifice, you are able to take full advantage of Lifextension technology and the up to 18X better endurance by adding an LX drive to your system," says PNY.

Jonmichael Hands, VP Storage Business Development at Chia explains, "I'm very excited that PNY has partnered with Phison to deliver the first SSD for Chia plotting. The LX3030 is tuned for the Chia plotting workload, which requires a high amount of sustained bandwidth. Users can be at ease knowing they won't wear out the drive easily - the LX3030 1TB can create 2PB of plots before wearing out! All of this in an M.2 80mm form factor for broad compatibility. The entry LX2030 will be great for small form factor systems and 4-6 core desktops and laptops, like the NUC build."

PNY shares specifications below.

Chia Plotting TBW

• LX3030 2TB: 54,000
• LX3030 1TB: 27,000
• LX2030 2TB: 10,000

Chia Plotting Read and Write Performance

• LX3030 - Read: 3,200MB/s and Write: 2,400MB/s
• LX2030 - Read: 3,200MB/s and Write: 1,000MB/s

Unfortunately, the LX2030 and LX3030 Chia-optimized SSDs do not seem to be available from any online retailers yet. However, they should be available here very soon. Since PNY has not yet shared pricing, we will have to wait to find out the cost. What we do know, however, is the LX2030 will only be offered in just a 2TB capacity, while the LX3030 can be had in both 1TB and 2TB.

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