Welcome to r/filecoin! Start here if you’re new to our community.

Background

Filecoin is a peer-to-peer network that allows anyone to store and retrieve data on the internet. Its built-in economic incentives ensure that files are stored and retrieved reliably and continuously for however long a user specifies. 

No single company or organization controls available storage capacity and/or the pricing for storing and retrieving files. Instead, the Filecoin storage network has open markets for storing and retrieving files that anyone with access to the internet can participate in. The network relies on a native cryptocurrency (FIL) to facilitate transactions.

Why Decentralized Storage?

Since its inception, cloud data storage evolved to be functional, leaving many economic and security concerns unaddressed. Its rapid rise allowed businesses to grow to match user demand quickly. In just a few years, cloud computing became so useful that the majority of all data was stored with just a handful of cloud data-providers. 

Despite its popularity, cloud storage infrastructure is still largely invisible to end-users. This lack of transparency, along with high barriers to entry, have resulted in just a few massive corporations owning nearly all of the global cloud data storage market. This consolidation is challenging for a number of reasons:

• Users must trust large corporate actors to protect their data from exposure; 
• The cost of storage and of switching cloud providers is high;
• Data may be stored far away from the end-user (hundreds to thousands of miles away);
• Providers are incentivized to lock-in their customers and extract a premium. 

In short, the current market for cloud storage is not nearly as competitive or efficient as it could be, and end-users suffer because of it.

At the same time, a significant amount of ‘latent’ (available) storage exists throughout the world that sits unused. This storage is owned by all kinds of entities: large corporations, small family businesses, individuals with huge hard-drive racks in their basements, all the way down to small drives in everyone’s laptop. 

Enter Filecoin. While the Interplanetary File System Protocol (IPFS) protocol lets us exchange data directly with our peers instead of relying on centralized hosts, Filecoin takes it a step further by giving us a way to pay each other for storing data. Storage providers rent out their extra storage space to earn Filecoin, and users spend Filecoin to store their files on other people’s computers. 

Filecoin uses blockchain technology to create a decentralized file storage network as an alternative to the oligopoly of centralized cloud storage models. If you have extra storage space on your computer hardware, you can “rent it out” to others who will pay you to store their files (or pieces of their files, so that only the file owner can put the pieces back together). A computer program will regularly check that the files are still being stored on your computer and, if so, automatically compensate you with Filecoin.

Together, we can create a better version of the Web if we combine the storage capacity and computing power on all of our individual devices into a supercomputer-like network, and store multiple copies of data across those devices. This decentralized version of the Internet provides a more robust platform for humanity’s most important information.

Interested in learning more about Filecoin? Here's a quick guide of some important resources!

Other Filecoin Subs

r/IPFS - a community for IPFS consensus method powering the Filecoin network. 

Filecoin Community Resources

Filecoin Ecosystem Overview

Discover the diverse landscape of applications and projects that are part of the Filecoin ecosystem in this interactive showcase. 

Filecoin Documentation 

Getting started with the docs is always a good idea if you want to start building apps, tools, or projects on Filecoin. If you’re new to the ecosystem or want a refresher, get the Filecoin Docs here: 

• Filecoin Docs - https://docs.filecoin.io/about-filecoin/what-is-filecoin/

Ready to start building? Check out the Lotus Docs to get started! Lotus is the reference implementation of Filecoin written in Go, and has all the tools you need to get started on the network. Find them here:

• Lotus Docs - https://lotus.filecoin.io

Become a Storage Provider 

Join over 4000 storage providers and start earning FIL!

If you’re experienced with this sort of thing, head over to the Storage Provider Dashboard at https://sp.filecoin.io to connect with one of our experts. They’ll walk you through the onboarding process and get you started on the Filecoin network. 

Still trying to decide on whether to provide storage? Learn more about being a storage provider https://filecoin.io/blog/posts/why-become-a-filecoin-storage-provider/.

Resources for Storage Providers

The Filecoin Community is  committed to helping individuals and organizations fulfill their goals of becoming Storage Providers on the Filecoin network.

• https://sp.filecoin.io/
• https://green.filecoin.io/

Store data on Filecoin

Filecoin offers security, flexibility, and scalability for your data at hyper-competitive prices. 

The network uses supply and demand - not corporate pricing models - to guarantee the fair market rate for your data and cryptographic proofs to ensure it’s protected. Visit https://filecoin.io/store/ to make the switch to secure decentralized cloud storage.

Resources for Storage Clients

Learn more about ways to store Web3 and NFT data on the decentralized web.

• https://nft.storage/
• https://web3.storage/

Network Dashboards

State of the network at your fingertips.

• http://file.app
• https://dashboard.starboard.ventures/dashboard
• https://filfox.info/en
• https://filscan.io/

Filecoin Foundation (FF) & Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW) 

FF and FFDW offer open Developer Grants and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to help empower social impact, creative, developer, and exploratory projects. 

• Filecoin Foundation (FF) is an independent organization that facilitates governance of the Filecoin network, funds critical development projects, supports the growth of the Filecoin ecosystem, and advocates for Filecoin and the decentralized web. Start at https://fil.org if you’re looking to kickstart a Filecoin project.
• Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW) focuses on charitable activities, including building and supporting the decentralized web community, funding research and development, and educating the public about the decentralized web, in order to preserve humanity’s most important information. If this is you – head over to https://ffdweb.org.

Newsletters 

We’ll help you stay in the know through our community updates. Subscribe to the Filecoin.io mailing list and storage provider newsletter to receive all the latest developments throughout the filecoin ecosystem.

Community Meetups

Come out and join us! Filecoin has a global community and presence at major crypto events - so head over to our upcoming events website to find a meetup near you!

Not sure what to expect? Check out the Filecoin YouTube Channel for highlights, recaps, and deep dives from past Filecoin events. 

Developer Resources

Get started as a developer on the Filecoin network from your command line. Happy building!

Filecoin Github 

https://github.com/filecoin-project

Hackathons

https://hackathons.filecoin.io

Grants and Funding 

Check out open RFPs, awards, and grant opportunities to fund your next project on Filecoin.

• Filecoin Developer Grants 

https://grants.filecoin.io/#learnmore

• FF Grants

https://fil.org/grants/

• FFDW Awards

https://ffdweb.org/awards

GitHub

Head over to our GitHub to contribute to the protocol! Find existing project repositories or start your own, suggest network improvements to the community, and join Filecoin governance to help build a better internet for everyone. 

Filecoin 

https://github.com/filecoin-project

Filecoin Improvement Proposal (FIPs)

https://github.com/filecoin-project/FIPs

Filecoin Plus (Fil ) 

https://github.com/filecoin-project/notary-governance/

Filecoin Social Channels

Join the discussion! Head over to your favorite social channel to stay connected to developments in the Filecoin community. 

• r/filecoin (welcome!)
• @filecoin
• @FilFoundation
• @FFDWeb
• @filecoingreen
• Filecoin Facebook
• Filecoin Slack
• IPFS Discord 
• WeChat

Filecoin subreddit rules

1) No personal attacks or harassment.

Personal attacks and harassment will not be tolerated and result in an immediate ban. We welcome all voices and opinions in r/filecoin and will not accept any offensive, racist, bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic, etc. language.

2) No spam.

Promoting projects, sending referral links or repeatedly sending messages is prohibited in this sub and will result in a long-term ban.

3) Keep discussions Filecoin related.

The purpose of r/filecoin is to discuss Filecoin and Filecoin related projects. Please avoid unrelated topics or use the weekly discussion thread for slightly related conversation.

4) Reach out to the mods.

Don’t assume someone else has already reported a rule violation. If you see someone violating the rules, report it to the moderators so that it can be enforced effectively.

​

EDIT: This post will be updated periodically to stay up to date with the latest dashboards and community resources.