IPFS project news - Filecoin launch date may be postponed to the end of the year

The original text comes from Interstellar Capital ( http://IPFS.FUND)

At today’s sharing and exchange meeting, Protocol Labs officially announced important news: the launch of the Filecoin beta version has been postponed from June to the end of the year. For details, please check the notes compiled by the editor.

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Sharing session schedule: 20 minutes of sharing; 15 minutes of questions

The following is a summary of Jeromy’s sharing:

1. What is IPFS ?

1. IPFS : It is a new protocol used to upgrade the existing network .

2. Filecoin 's mission and purpose: to create a decentralized and efficient storage network to preserve basic information for mankind .

3. Solution : Filecoin is a flexible storage method, equivalent to Bitcoin + Amazon's cloud service + IPFS

2. What are the advantages of IPFS :

1. The current network is like the human nervous system, which continues to spread into our lives and control all human behaviors . However , all networks are based on HTTP , which has inevitable defects :

1. 1. Low efficiency

1. 2. Stability is not guaranteed

1. 3. Security issues are prone to occur : if a link is broken, the data cannot be found ; it will be affected by censorship.

2. Origin, development and current status of IPFS

2.1 . In 2014 , Juan and Jemory founded the IPFS protocol with the goal of replacing HTTP and implementing a faster and more efficient network protocol .

2.2 . Brief overview of IPFS : It is a combination of all peer-to-peer communication technologies. It replaces the address-based system with a content -addressed protocol file system to avoid problems such as inefficiency when links are damaged and we cannot access files .

2.3 . IPFS has been put into use and has stored a large number of files, such as videos, legal documents, 3D files, games, scientific files, etc.

2.4 . Project community development: IPFS is a huge open source project, with more than 1,600 participants and more than 36,000 suggestions for improvement. (I didn't hear it clearly, so the numbers may be different)

2.5 . Filecoin will become a decentralized, more secure, and more permanent protocol.

3. Filecoin : It continues the excellent essence of blockchain technologies such as Bitcoin.

1. Advantages of Filecoin :

1.1 . Use an effective proof-of-work consensus that consumes less human resources.

1.2 . Maximize storage space and reduce bandwidth waste.

1.3 . It can decentralize the storage space around the world.

2. POW waste problem :

Let's look at the problem of Bitcoin's hash power : In recent years, Bitcoin's hash power has grown very rapidly, reaching 14 million. This is a good reward mechanism and has also made Bitcoin successful. Since 2012 , Bitcoin miners have generated revenue of 125 billion US dollars , but so much hash power has not generated corresponding value, which is a huge waste. Filecoin can reduce the waste of a lot of resources, which is also the purpose of Filecoin .

Therefore, the most important thing for Filecoin is to allow the largest possible amount of resources to join the process of decentralizing storage space. The most important of these is the useful proof-of-work mechanism we just mentioned.

The miner mechanism is a challenge to our existing hard disk storage mechanism. For miners, the more storage, the greater the reward, and the more information sent, the greater the reward.

Our ultimate goal is to turn excess storage space into a commodity and add it to the network , thereby achieving a storage optimization mechanism and allowing more people to join. Ultimately, the price of storage will be determined by the overall supply and demand of the entire network.

Summarize:

1. Use effective proof of work to make more storage space available.

2. Reduce bandwidth waste through global storage.

3. Realize decentralized global storage and no longer rely on a small number of large storage providers, such as Amazon.

What I just introduced is what I want to share today, the question session:

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Q : There are rumors online that the mainnet launch will be delayed, but there is no mention of this in the official blog or Twitter.

A : Indeed, the test network is not online yet. The staff are mainly developing basic and constructive things. Perhaps content related to the test network will be released by the end of the year.

Q : There are many so-called IPFS mining machines on the market now, so I would like to ask if there are any officially recognized and cooperated mining machines?

A : So far, the official has never announced any partners or provided any products for purchase. Please do not believe the rumors. You can follow the official blog and Twitter. We will also translate the relevant blog posts into Chinese so that everyone can grasp the information more accurately.

Q : In terms of cost , efficiency, security and privacy , how is Filecoin competitive with centralized storage providers? Will Filecoin become a niche market?

A : Filecoin is still a very new technology, but in the future, because of the superiority of this technology, it can shorten the distance between data and people. For example, when we need data, if the data is stored in a very close place, then our speed will be faster. Currently, we often need to get data from a very far place, which greatly wastes network resources such as bandwidth.

Q : Regarding proof of work, the emergence of ASIC chips has changed the way Bitcoin is mined. What impact will Filecoin 's new proof method have on mining? Will it form a monopoly like the large Bitcoin mining pool?

A : Regardless of the mechanism of any cryptocurrency, if a large player invests more resources, a monopoly will be achieved to a certain extent. Filecoin separates the payment and mining processes, thereby separating storage income from mining income. If it is closer to the user , it is more conducive to providing storage and retrieval value to the user, and miners will find ways to get closer to the user , which will make it easier to achieve decentralization.

Q : Will the decentralization of files lead to an increase in transmission costs and a decrease in convenience? In addition , after Filcoin is listed on the exchange, the value of the token will be unstable and volatile, and the value of the token is tied to the price of storage, and the value of storage will also fluctuate accordingly. So why should we choose Filecoin instead of a more stable price method?

A : For the first question, the storage cost will actually become lower and lower, because if the location is close, bandwidth resources can be saved. For a file, it is not impossible to obtain it in other places, but because it may have to cross half the world, more bandwidth will be wasted, resulting in higher costs. Regarding the two questions about price fluctuations, this is being solved. In fact, there is a floating proportional relationship between price and storage space, rather than a fixed price.

Q : Storage miners need to pledge tokens . If there is a power outage or other failure, will it cause significant losses to the miners?

A : If a power outage occurs but it can be repaired in time, it will not have much impact. If it is only lost once or twice, it will not have much impact on the mortgage.

Thank you all for participating in today’s IPFS information sharing. I hope to have more opportunities to communicate with you all.

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According to Protocol Labs, the earliest mining should be possible at the end of the year!

Thanks to Xie Dapao @the first person in IPFS mining for organizing this event!