Filecoin (⨎) is a
cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.
Individual coin ownership record ...
intended to be a
blockchain
The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...
-based
cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method.
It was developed by
Protocol Labs
Protocol Labs is an open-source software research and development company, founded in 2014. It is best known for creating the InterPlanetary File System, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer decentralized web protocol, and Filecoin, ...
and shares some ideas from
InterPlanetary File System
The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol, hypermedia and file sharing peer-to-peer network for sharing data using a distributed hash table to store provider information. By using content addressing, IPFS uniquely identifies each fi ...
allowing users to rent unused hard drive space. Filecoin is an open protocol and uses a blockchain to record participation in the network.
Transactions are made using the blockchain's currency, FIL. The blockchain is based on both
proof of-replication and
proof of space-time.
History
The project was launched in August 2017, and raised over $200 million within 30 minutes via an
initial coin offering
An initial coin offering (ICO) or initial currency offering is a type of funding using cryptocurrencies. It is often a form of crowdfunding, although a private ICO which does not seek public investment is also possible. In an ICO, a quantity of c ...
.
In 2020, the project set up the Filecoin Foundation under the leadership of founding officer
Megan Klimen to support the development of the protocol, and the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web to support other projects contributing to the ecosystem of the
decentralized web
The decentralized web is a network of independent computers that provide secure, censorship-resistant access to information and services without relying on central servers or clouds, using decentralized computing.
History and development
Dece ...
.
Their Board of Directors and advisors include
Brewster Kahle (Founder of
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
),
Joe Lubin (Founder of Consensys & Cofounder of Ethereum), and Denelle Dixon (CEO of
Stellar Development Foundation).
Philanthropy
In April 2021, the Filecoin Foundation donated 50,000 filecoins worth $10,000,000 to the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
. In addition, Internet Archive's founder
Brewster Kahle and director of partnerships Wendy Hanamura joined the boards of advisors of Filecoin and the Filecoin Foundation for the
Decentralized Web
The decentralized web is a network of independent computers that provide secure, censorship-resistant access to information and services without relying on central servers or clouds, using decentralized computing.
History and development
Dece ...
.
See also
*
Distributed data store
A distributed data store is a computer network where information is stored on more than one node, often in a replicated fashion. It is usually specifically used to refer to either a distributed database where users store information on a ''numb ...
Notes
References
External links
*
{{File sharing
Decentralized cloud computing
2017 software
Cloud applications
Cryptocurrency projects
Data synchronization
Distributed data storage
File hosting for Windows
Peer-to-peer computing