Filecoin is a novel distributed network protocol that enables a global, decentralized marketplace for data storage.
The highly-anticipated project is rapidly maturing; with the public launch of the main Filecoin network slated for as early as next month, the project has reached a state where developers can begin seriously evaluating the use of Filecoin in their own technology stacks.
The following discussion is offered as a jumping-off point for those looking to do so.
What Filecoin Offers
Filecoin was conceived as an incentivization layer for the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a content-addressable, peer-to-peer storage network protocol (it is important to note that despite this history, Filecoin and IPFS are independent projects with no inherent dependencies on one another).
While IPFS addresses the problem of securely sending and receiving data, Filecoin targets the fundamental need for trustworthy, verifiable storage of data.
Thus, from the beginning, Filecoin has been predicated on the desire to properly align incentivize structures to ensure the preservation of some of humanity’s most important information.
To achieve this goal, the Filecoin protocol conceptualizes a novel, decentralized storage marketplace. Juxtaposed against existing cloud storage solutions, its peer-to-peer network is
- global and distributed, where traditional cloud service providers are highly centralized, and only available in limited locations that are often distant from consumers;
- efficient and scalable, operating as a content-delivery network to preserve bandwidth and taking advantage of latent storage resources;
- censorship-resistant;
- highly amenable to automation via smart contracts;
- trustless and open, mitigating attempts at vendor lock-in;
- provably secure and publicly auditable, using content-addressing and constant verification to ensure data authenticity and integrity.
As a result, the Filecoin protocol is expected to manifest as an extremely reliable, low-cost cloud storage solution, bringing to the table several capabilities that other paid alternatives have never been able to offer. To achieve this, it employs a variety of novel crypto-economic constructions.
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