Filecoin information

What is Filecoin?

Filecoin is the native cryptocurrency of the decentralized storage network developed by Protocol Labs. The network functions as a marketplace for storing and retrieving data through a peer-to-peer infrastructure.
Clients pay storage providers (miners) in FIL tokens to store and retrieve their data. The network is designed so anyone can participate as a provider or user of storage.

Whitepaper: Filecoin Whitepaper

How does Filecoin work?

The Filecoin network allows storage providers to offer disk space and cryptographically prove that they are indeed storing client data. The two core proofs are:

• Proof-of-Replication (PoRep): proves that the provider has stored a unique copy of client data.
• Proof-of-Spacetime (PoSt): proves that the provider continues to store that data over time.
   

Clients make storage deals; providers accept and store data; retrieval providers fetch it when requested. The FIL token serves as payment.

The token

• Abbreviation: FIL
• Category: Utility token within the Filecoin decentralized storage marketplace
• Blockchain: The Filecoin network (its own native chain) tracking storage commitments and token transfers
• Protocol: Uses PoRep & PoSt instead of traditional proof-of-work or proof-of-stake
• Year of launch: 2020 (whitepaper released in 2017)

The technology behind Filecoin

Filecoin builds upon the IPFS ecosystem, a distributed file system enabling peer-to-peer storage. It adds an incentive layer that rewards providers for storing and retrieving data.
The network maintains a blockchain ledger of deals, storage proofs, and commitments. Storage — not computing power — is the core resource that gives Filecoin its value.

The Filecoin ecosystem

The Filecoin ecosystem includes:

• Storage providers (miners) offering disk space and retrieval services
• Clients who wish to store or retrieve data
• A decentralized marketplace where storage capacity is dynamically priced
• Developers building applications and services on top of the Filecoin network
   

The Filecoin Foundation supports ecosystem growth, grants, open-source development, and network governance.

Who is the founder of Filecoin?

The project was initiated by Protocol Labs, founded by Juan Benet, who also created IPFS.

Impact on the environment

Click here to read more information about the environmental impact of this coin.