The creator of BitTorrent is preparing a Chia network - an alternative to Bitcoin

Bram Cohen, the creator of the famous BitTorrent file sharing protocol, announced that he was one step closer to "solving the problem of centralizing Bitcoin." In an interview with TechCrunch magazine, Cohen said that Chia's network, its long-standing project, positioning itself as an alternative to Bitcoin, could be launched by the end of 2018. The "very hot" round of initial investment allowed the project to get out of the underground and hire a capable developer, which is necessary for Chia's currency to offer itself to investors.

 "The idea is to improve Bitcoin to solve the problems of centralization," Cohen explained.In Chia, the nodes will go through three "most important chronologies" - in contrast to Bitcoin, where it is only one of them. They are passed on to farmers, not to the miners who work with proof-of-space, and then sent to proof-of-time servers that create a valid block for the network.The main functions, proof-of-space (PoSpace) and proof-of-time, are designed to improve Bitcoin's proof-of-work algorithm and prevent centralization of mining.

"We're building a blockchain based on proofs of space and time to make a cryptocurrency which is less wasteful, more decentralized, and more secure," Chia's website proclaims.

While proof-of-space can suffer attacks, proof-of-time is designed to make the alternative technology bulletproof.

Chia will "do some smarter things about its legal status and do a bunch of technical fixes that you can do when starting from scratch," Cohen continued.

It's technically ambitious and there's a big meaty chunk of work to do. I've done enough raising money and recruiting. Now for the real work.

Cohen's flagship BitTorrent fell on hard times earlier this year after management difficulties caused a collapse. The entrepreneur formally left the project in August ahead of the Chia reveal, while remaining on its board.

"It doesn't need me day to day," he added about the move.