Overview
Filecoin is a decentralized storage network built on top of IPFS. It provides an incentive layer that rewards storage providers for hosting data reliably over time, creating a competitive marketplace for digital storage.
Key Concepts
- Storage Miners: Nodes that provide storage capacity to the network and earn FIL tokens in return.
- Retrieval Miners: Nodes that help users quickly retrieve their stored data.
- Proof of Replication (PoRep): Proves that a miner has created a unique copy of the data on their hardware.
- Proof of Spacetime (PoSt): Proves that a miner is continuing to store the data over a specific period.
Significance
Filecoin aims to provide a cheaper, more secure, and more resilient alternative to centralized cloud storage providers like AWS or Google Cloud.