Filecoin mainnet went live, offering distributed file storage

Filecoin was launched in October after three years of anticipation. Will it remain popular within the crypto community?

Filecoin became active after years of waiting. The project launched its mainnet on October 12, 2020, offering a live product to users and developers who wish to use the blockchain-based file storage platform.

Filecoin provides an alternative to file storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive. Unlike these services, Filecoin doesn’t rely on a single company to provide storage space. Instead, hundreds of Filecoin node operators lease their disk space to other users. These node operators are also paid in cryptocurrency for their service. The network currently has 617 pebibytes of storage spread across over 550 nodes.

The launch of the mainnet also allows Filecoin’s FIL token to start circulating. Filecoin’s original ICO was made in 2017. That sale raised $ 200 million and was the largest ICO at the time it occurred. Until recently, the token was only available as an IOU contract. This month’s launch means that investors can trade their FIL tokens freely.

The FIL token is now listed in more than 25 different exchanges, including Binance, Bitfinex, Bithumb Global, Bittrex, Huobi, Kraken, and Poloniex. Coinbase and Coinbase Pro have not listed FIL; However, Coinbase Custody, which holds cryptocurrency for institutional investors, has announced support for the token.

Currently it is possible to upload files to Filecoin using the project node software. However, there are also Filecoin apps that make it much easier to use the network storage system. Creativefilecloud.com and Slate.host are two apps that offer easy loading. Other apps are listed on Filecoin’s Slingshot page.

Additionally, Ethereum development company ConsenSys plans to create Filecoin-related tools for developers. Two products are under development. The first product is a Filecoin DeFi Bridge, which allows you to spend FIL tokens on Ethereum-based apps and exchanges. ConsenSys’ second app is called Storage Market, which will allow users and developers to control the price of Filecoin storage.

It should also be noted that some blockchain apps already use Filecoin’s sister project, IPFS, for data storage. Filecoin is primarily a financial incentive layer for IPFS and the two systems can be used together. “This ensures that the data is constantly available and can be retrieved quickly, while also ensuring that the data is securely saved on the Filecoin network,” explains the project documentation.

The launch of Filecoin resulted in a small conflict among the project’s storage miners. Those miners are required to aim for FIL tokens to provide storage, confirm blocks, and earn rewards. However, shortly after Filecoin was launched, several miners shut down their mining rigs due to participation costs.

Although the mine closures were originally considered a strike, the miners have made their position clear. ST Cloud CEO Chuhang Lai, for example, says the closures were not “some sort of protest” but a financial necessity. He says his group had to shut down its mining rigs because it didn’t have sufficient guarantees.

These reports were contested by Filecoin founder Juan Benet, who say that the miners are still online. “An attack on Filecoin … would mean interrupting the storage verification process or no longer producing blocks,” says Benet. He adds that mining is simply growing slower than it was before Filecoin’s launch.

In fact, Benet says that Filecoin developers have recommended miners to slow their growth rate. He pointed out that Filecoin’s storage capacity does not need to grow without restrictions. Filecoin also decided to release 25% of the token rewards early to appease the miners.

Filecoin is already having success in terms of market performance. As of November 19, the FIL token now has a market cap of $ 1,085,955,400, making it the 22nd largest cryptocurrency on the market.

Filecoin’s biggest competitor is Sia, which is currently the 85th largest coin. Sia launched Skynet this year and made it her flagship product, pivoting from her old archiving system to a much simpler web-based file archiving system. Whether Filecoin will maintain its lead over Sia after its post-launch hype remains to be seen.

Other competitors, such as Maidsafe and Storj, have mostly disappeared from the spotlight, as evidenced by their market position. The Maidsafe (SAFE) token is currently at # 150, while the Storj (STORJ) token is currently at # 113.

Whether Filecoin or any other blockchain-based storage platform will surpass traditional cloud storage services, which collectively serve over 2 billion users, remains to be seen.