🤫 The Filecoin Masterplan

The Upload V8

January 26, 2023

Welcome to the Filecoin Foundation newsletter, where we cover big ideas and news about the Filecoin ecosystem and the decentralized web. Today’s edition focuses on the Filecoin Masterplan, which Juan Benet presented last fall and can be read in full here.

The Big File

Reaching the full potential of Web3 requires advancement of decentralized storage. Cue the Filecoin Master Plan, which lays out a vision to make the Filecoin Network a “layer 1” for all computational networks by…

  1. Building the world’s largest decentralized storage network

  2. Onboarding and safeguarding humanity’s data

  3. Delivering data retrieval and compute capabilities to build scalable applications on Filecoin

The first step has been accomplished: Filecoin is the largest decentralized storage network in the world and has grown to over 19 EiB total storage power with more than 4,000 storage providers and 1,000+ clients around the world, thanks to the efforts of programs like FIL+, ESPA Bootcamps, and Filecoin Green.

Up next: massive data onboarding. In 2022, the Filecoin Network grew from 24.34 PiB to 459.4 PiB stored on the network, a 1,787% increase. Today, the big drivers of data growth are open datasets, like scientific data and government records. Tools like NFT.Storage for NFT metadata and the Slingshot program for preserving open datasets will help onboard even more data. Plus, these tools make storing data more cost-effective for applications such as music, video, and gaming.

Lastly, data on Filecoin is about to become even more usable, thanks to the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), which combines provable storage with smart contracts (watch a video explainer here). Slated to launch this spring, the FVM will unlock new use cases for data, such as tokenized datasets and DAOs, trustless reputation systems, smarter storage markets, and more (check out a more expansive list here).

There are lots of ways for the Filecoin community to help build this Master Plan, from applying to RFP Grants and joining the FVM Early Builders program to participating on Github and Slack.

The Event File:

See what’s coming up and follow our full programming lineup here.

Filecoin Foundation in Davos. It was an epic week at the Filecoin Sanctuary in Davos. Our stage was packed with leaders across business, government, and civil society from January 17-19. Some of the highlights include:

  • Filecoin Foundation announced a first-of-its-kind mission to deploy the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) in space. The mission will take place aboard Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 Technology Demonstrator spacecraft in 2023.

  • Filecoin Green’s Alan Ransil took the stage with sustainability experts from Baker McKenzie, Bezos Earth Fund, and Salesforce to discuss solutions for verifiable carbon accounting. Watch the full video.

  • Jonathan Dotan announced that The Starling Lab and Hala Systems are using new cryptographic tools to submit records of potential war crimes in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court and the UN Office of the High Commissioner – adding additional layers of certainty to vulnerable digital records. Starling Lab uses decentralized storage protocols, like Filecoin, to create an immutable archive.

Check out our other panels from Davos on Filecoin Foundation’s YouTube page.

We’re gearing up for ETH Denver. The Filecoin Foundation will host a hacker base during ETH Denver, February 28 - March 1. Expect lots of opportunities for networking, coworking, and hacking. Follow along with us on Twitter to know when registration goes live!

From the FIL-ing Cabinet

Discover news from across the Filecoin ecosystem.

Learn more about FF’s collaboration with Lockheed Martin to put IPFS in space in Forkast News.

FF President and Chair Marta Belcher penned a CoinDesk op-ed on Senator Warren’s proposed financial surveillance legislation and joined Fox Business' Making Money with Charles Payne to discuss crypto policy.

The Starling Lab and Rolling Stone created a Web3 archive to record alleged war crimes. An investigation from The Starling Lab (a Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web project partner) and Rolling Stone created an interactive archive to authenticate and preserve records of alleged war crimes committed by Arkan’s Tigers in 1992. Using Filecoin and IPFS, The Starling Lab ensures that there are irrefutable records of the original images. Read more about one of the first deployments of photojournalism on the DWeb in Rolling Stone.

Come BUIDL With Us

Learn about the latest in Filecoin grants.

 

LedgerMail

LedgerMail integrated Filecoin to their email transfer protocol, enabling users to directly store generated data on Filecoin. The team has also designed features for custom @fil Filecoin usernames. Learn more about LedgerMail.

SamePage

SamePage is a collaboration tool that serves two use cases, either as a cross-notebook page sync, or cross-notebook queries. Integrations with Roam, LoagSeq, Obsidian, RemNote and Craft enable teams to share thoughts across the same network, regardless of their choice of organizing tool. Learn more about SamePage. 

Algovera

Algovera developed a framework for the creation of major Data Science community support tools, like python libraries for decentralized storage: an integration of python's interface with data science frameworks like HuggingFace, Activeloop, and JupyterLab. They also built a Web3 AI hub as a tool for data scientists to easily build on top of IPFS and Ocean Protocol. Learn more about Algovera.

  • The first FVM Space Warp Hackathon with ETHGlobal kicked off on January 20. Stay tuned to see which projects building with the new FEVM, the Ethereum-compatible layer of the Filecoin Virtual Machine, will win their share of over $400,000 in prizes and grants.

  • Next Step Microgrants of $5,000 are available for independent developers, small studios, non-profits, activists, and researchers working on early-stage projects that leverage the Filecoin network. Learn more about how to receive a microgrant.

Apply for a Developer Grant

The Filecoin Dev Grants program helps advance projects and aims to award additional grants to boost development in the Filecoin ecosystem. Check out our other grant recipients and learn how you can apply for Open Grants and Microgrants.

Community Governance

Updates on Filecoin Improvement Proposals (FIPs)

The following FIPs have recently entered their Last Call period. Community members are encouraged to review the FIPs, ask questions, and raise any concerns they may have during this final review process.