A Heise investigation of used Seagate data center-grade hard drives that are being sold as new has suggested that the drives originated from Chinese cryptocurrency mining farms that used them to mine Chia several years ago. Notably, this finding does not disprove Seagate's assertion that the fraudulent HDDs were obtained from channels that did not buy from official distributors.
The investigation suggests the used HDDs originated in China, likely from cryptocurrency mining farms that previously mined Chia. During Chia's peak, HDD demand surged, leading to shortages and price hikes. However, the economic payoff for Chia mining declined over time, leading to many farms shutting down and flooding the market with second-hand drives.
