Welcome to the Filecoin Foundation newsletter, where we cover big ideas and news about the Filecoin ecosystem and the decentralized web. Today’s edition is a recap of FF President Marta Belcher’s testimony in Congress before the House Financial Services Committee and the Filecoin Network Base in Austin during Consensus 2023.

It's been a busy but amazing last few weeks for Filecoin Foundation. While some folks were in Austin hosting an event for the Filecoin community, FF President Marta Belcher was in Washington testifying before the House Financial Services Committee about the valuable use cases of cryptocurrency, Web3, and Filecoin.

There's a lot to cover, so let's jump in.

On April 27, FF President Marta Belcher testified in Congress before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion

In her testimony, Marta emphasized that cryptocurrencies are about far more than just financial services. They enable a decentralized internet, which provides users with an alternative to big tech, allowing them to control their own data as they see fit. She said:

Marta also offered insight into the Filecoin network and how it empowers users and protects humanity’s most important information, including preserving data from human rights defenders, academic institutions, and government organizations.Here are a few examples:

• Starling Lab is storing the USC Shoah Foundation's genocide survivor testimony archives.

• Guardian Project is building a mobile app for eyewitnesses that authenticates content captured on smartphones.

• Harvard University’s Library Innovation Lab is exploring decentralized technologies that can preserve digital information.

• The Internet Archive via Democracy’s Library is preserving a free and open collection of government data that will ensure that government research and publications from around the world remain permanently accessible to the public.

Marta urged the committee to consider the valuable use cases of cryptocurrencies beyond financial services while drafting regulation. She emphasized the importance of protecting users' ability to transact directly, providing clarity and compliance onramps, and respecting free speech protections for writing computer code. Read the full testimony.

Filecoin Foundation was in Austin for the Filecoin Network Base

We had an amazing time in Austin connecting with the Filecoin community in person! If you missed the FIL Network Base or just want to relive it, here is a rundown of our time in Austin.

Day 1 of the FIL Network Base kicked off with programming focused on how the Filecoin Network interplays with gaming. Leon Do talked about the game he built on IPFS, IPFS FPS.

Day 2 was CryptoEconDay, featuring talks about the findings and lessons learned to address some of the most pressing topics around cryptoeconomics from many of the top minds in the field, including speakers from Protocol Labs, Binance Labs, Coinbase Institute, Gumi Cryptos Capital, Carnegie Mellon University, George Mason University, 6th Man Ventures, the CryptoEconLab, and Lit Protocol. CryptoEconLab’s Research Scientist Kiran Karra presented how he and his team are modeling the Filecoin economy. Read on to learn more.

Day 3, Filecoin Network Day, explored the latest updates from across Filecoin Foundation and the Filecoin ecosystem, including FVM project updates, and a keynote address from EY’s Global Head of Blockchain, Paul Brody, whose organization is a founding member of the Decentralized Storage Alliance.

💡Some takeaways from three days of the FIL Network Base:

• IPFS-based dApps have over 50 million monthly active users.

• Decentralized databases and storage will empower the next generation of game-changing decentralized applications.

• Most efforts to improve Web3’s UX target end-users. Because of this, developer tooling has been largely overlooked.

• Decentralized infrastructure for geospatial data could result in fewer data silos, increased trust, and the democratization of data stewardship.

Missed out on the fun in Austin? Join us next month in California at DWeb Camp 2023. Set in the beautiful Redwoods along the Mendocino coast, DWeb Camp is a five-day retreat for builders and dreamers to connect, learn, share, and have fun as we work toward building a better, decentralized web.

From the FIL-ing Cabinet

Discover news from across the Filecoin ecosystem.

Network Upgrade v19 "Lightning" arrived on the mainnet on April 27. Filecoin Network nv19 introduced FIP 0060, FIP 0061, and FIP 0062 which included a new version of system actors and changes to the Filecoin proofs system. Network Upgrade v20 "Thunder" will be performed with no network downtime, no changes to FIPs or actors, and no SP upgrading. It is a "ghost" upgrade. Read more.

Dev Grant Spotlights. Catch up on our latest dev grant deep dives, highlighting, Encloud & Numbers Protocol:

• Encloud is building privacy services for data on IPFS and Filecoin.

• Numbers Protocol is leveraging decentralized technologies to address issues of attribution and ownership in the creator economy.

Enhanced Filecoin network support is coming to the Brave Wallet. With its most recent update, Brave will now offer automatic NFT backup with IPFS and a more simplified experience to build on FVM.

Come BUIDL With Us

A highlight of Filecoin Foundation’s Dev Grant recipients building new tools and services on the Filecoin network. Learn more about the program.

• Filecoin Developer Advocate Ally Haire released a step-by-step guide for an amazing FVM project. Waterlily is a first-of-its- kind ethical AI-Art platform on FVM that pays royalties to original creators.

• Filecoin Developer Advocate Jenks Guo delivered an introductory talk to more than 100 founders at the Prod.So conference, an MIT and Harvard accelerator.

• Calling all bug hunters! The Filecoin Bug Bounty Program is live on Immunefi for your chance to win up to $500K in bounties for identifying bugs post-FVM launch.

Do you have an idea for pushing the Filecoin ecosystem forward?

Visit the Open Developer Grants GitHub to learn more about the available opportunities in our four featured categories:

• Developer and Data Tooling: Projects that close important experience gaps for developers or large dataset users.

• Applications: Projects that apply Filecoin, IPFS, or related technologies in novel ways to solve meaningful, real-world problems.

• Integrations: Projects that add integration or support for Filecoin, IPFS, or related technologies into popular, or fast-growing, existing tools and developer communities in Web2 or Web3.

• Research and Protocols: Projects aimed at improving the foundations of Filecoin, IPFS, and related technologies.

Questions? Reach out to [email protected].

Community Governance

Updates on Filecoin Improvement Proposals (FIPs).

FIP0060, FIP0061, and FIP0062 were included in the nv19 Lightning Upgrade. FIP 0052 will be included in a future upgrade.

Do you want to better understand and help design Filecoin governance? Dive into protocol updates, governance best practices, and Filecoin Improvement Proposals (FIPs) with the FF Governance team on its monthly Open Governance Call – no technical experience necessary.

Get in Touch

The decentralized web is all about community. To keep updated, follow us @filfoundation and @FFDWeb on Twitter. Connect with us on Filecoin Slack. If you have a big idea for the next edition, or just want to leave us your thoughts, email us at [email protected].