Filecoin

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    Filecoin is an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital payment system intended to be a blockchain-based cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method. 

     

    What is Filecoin?

    Filecoin is a peer-to-peer network that stores files, with built-in economic incentives to ensure files are stored reliably over time.

    In Filecoin, users pay to store their files on storage miners. Storage miners are computers responsible for storing files and proving they have stored the files correctly over time. Anyone who wants to store their files or get paid for storing other users’ files can join Filecoin. Available storage, and the price of that storage, is not controlled by any single company. Instead, Filecoin facilitates open markets for storing and retrieving files that anyone can participate in.

    Filecoin includes a blockchain and native cryptocurrency (FIL). Storage miners earn units of FIL for storing files. Filecoin’s blockchain records transactions to send and receive FIL, along with proofs from storage miners that they are storing their files correctly.

    Diagram showing a four-step process for storing files with Filecoin. First step: User who wants to store a file pays miner to store their file. Second step: Miner commits publicly via Filecoin’s blockchain to storing the file. Third step: The network constantly verifies that miners are storing files correctly. Fourth step: User pays miner to retrieve their file.

    For users

    Filecoin enables users to store their files at hypercompetitive prices and verify that their files are being stored correctly.

    Users can choose their preferred trade-off between cost, redundancy, and speed by selecting the miner whose storage offer is best suited for their needs. Applications that implement Filecoin can negotiate storage with any miner on the network. Unlike centralized storage systems, there is no need to implement a different API for each provider.

     

    Store data on Filecoin

    Storing data on Filecoin lets users harness the power of a distributed network and an open market served by thousands of different storage providers or miners.