The document provides an overview of IPFS and Filecoin concepts, technologies, and development tools. It discusses how IPFS creates a decentralized file system and content addressing system, while Filecoin provides an incentive layer for long-term storage. Several tools are presented that simplify storing and retrieving data from IPFS and Filecoin like Fleek, NFT.Storage, and Web3.Storage.

1. ETH Safari 🦓
Introduction to
IPFS & Filecoin
Jenks Guo
Developer Advocate
Filecoin Foundation

2. The Agenda
● IPFS & Filecoin: concepts, tech & dev tooling
● IPFS & Filecoin Use Cases & Projects
● Filecoin for Social Good
● Possibilities & Opportunities
● What’s new?
● Resources, getting involved & staying in touch

3. A peer-to-peer protocol making the web
upgradeable, resilient, and more open
Think: Peer-to-peer version of HTTP
A decentralized storage network to store
humanity’s most important information.
Think: Airbnb for data storage.
Protocol Labs is an open-source R&D lab
building protocols, tools, and services to
improve the internet
FF is the steward of the Filecoin
community, aspiring to put the power of
humanity’s most important information
back into the hands of everyone.

4. The web3 stack - verifiable data is essential to a truly
distributed system

5. IPFS & Filecoin:
Concepts, Tech & Tooling
@jenksguo

6. Centralized
Single points of
failure
Data monetized by
data monoliths
Decentralized Distributed
Users power service
Censorship
resistance
Privacy
Self-verified
Non-siloed data
Web3
Web2

7. IPFS
Interplanetary File System
File system
Files + Folders
Interplanetary
Distributed (no central server)
Resilient / Offline first
Upgrading the web

8. 8
Computer
file://
path/to/index.html
Web2
IP + port
http://domain.com/
path/to/index.html
ipfs://[CID]/
path/to/index.html
IPFS
Content ID
IPFS addresses
content by what it is,
instead of where it is
It replaces a folder
or file location with a
Content ID
8
IPFS
Interplanetary File
System

9. Same content =
Same CID
Content ID can be
reproduced
anytime from the
original content
Copies of content
are verifiable by
their CID
Cryptographic Hash function
(Secure Hash Algorithm-256)
Content
hello world
Content Identifier (CID)
QmbfSNQ6h73kr72RQ5h8nX8s9aN7aVKNiwGEYabzxBsQT9

10. Merkle DAGs are
graph data
structures in which
each node is
content-addressed
Root CID
abc.doc pic.jpg doge.png pic2.jpg
user1 user2
Note: Colors indicate unique CIDs

11. Deduplication
To IPFS, CIDs of
copies of the same
file are the same
thing
Verifiability
If the content
changes, the CID
changes
Root CID
abc.doc pic.jpg doge.png pic2.jpg
user1 user2 new
Note: Colors indicate unique CIDs

12. 12
Peer
Unique ID in the p2p
network namespace
Provide
services to
other
peers
Must be
"discoverable"
Encrypted
communicatio
n channels
Use services
from other
peers
Must be
"routable" /
reachable
Content routing | Peer
Node in a p2p
system
Swarm
Network of peers

13. 13
Peer
Unique ID in the p2p
network namespace
Provide
services to
other
peers
Must be
"discoverable"
Encrypted
communicatio
n channels
Use services
from other
peers
Must be
"routable" /
reachable
Content routing | Peer
Node in a p2p
system
Swarm
Network of peers

14. 14
Peer 1
key 1 | value 1
key 2 | value 2
Content routing | Distributed Hash Table (DHT)
Peer 2
key 2 | value 2
key 3 | value 3
Peer 3
Peer 4
key 3 | value 3
key 4 | value 5
A Distributed Hash Table (DHT) is
maintained by multiple peers (only a
small number of rows are stored
with each peer)
It provides a 2-column table (key-
value store)
key value
key 1 value 1
key 2 value 2
key 3 value 3
key n value n
Peer 6
key 6 | value 6
Example

15. Content routing | DHT
Discovering and routing to content
15
Keys are either Content IDs or Peer IDs
Peers can add rows to the DHT
declaring a) their Peer ID provides a
specific CIDs and b) how to connect
with their Peer ID
Peers can then query the DHT to find
which Peer ID is providing which
Content ID
Peers can also query the DHT to find
information on how to connect to that
Peer ID
keys
CID/PID
values
/ipfs/QmABC QmPID1
/ipns/QmXYZ /ipfs/QmABC
QmPID1
192.1.2.3,
42.53.1.23
QmPID2 /relay/QmPID1
… …
Content discovery
Peer ID = Content
ID
Peer routing
PeerID = [Location]
Actual IPFS DHT content

16. Using IPFS in the wild
No nodes, no retrievability…so who runs p2p nodes and why?
You can run your
own node,...
...pay a pinning
service to pin your
content on their nodes
(Pinata, Temporal, Infura +
more)
…and/or hope your
content becomes
popular enough that
other nodes will pin it.
…run your own
network of nodes,...
(and an infrastructure
team to manage it)
1a 1b 2 3

17. Any
decentralised
and reliable
alternatives?
…

18. Filecoin is storage designed for Web3
from the ground up
Compatible with IPFS
& Web3
Use IPFS as a building block
to share all the benefits of
content addressing and CIDs
Integrates with Web3
networks like NEAR and
many others
Will soon be compatible with
EVM (storage + smart
contracts !) through FVM.
Verifiable, via
cryptographic proofs
Ensures that providers are
actually storing data and
keeping it safe
Uses block rewards as
incentives & collateral
slashing as penalties
Gives you control over the
permanence of your data
A massive,
decentralized network
16,000,000 TB of capacity
across the globe provided by
thousands of storage
providers
Governed by consensus,
instead of a single
corporation
Community driven - by a
foundation funded for 50
years of open community

19. The anatomy of a
19
1
* Filecoin uses the same process as IPFS so the resulting Content IDs are
compatible
2
3
4
A client makes a time-limited
deal (e.g., via app or smart
contract) to store data
The Filecoin protocol transforms
the data into a content-
addressed Directed Acyclic
Graph (DAG)*
Providers generate an initial
Proof of Replication (PoRep) to
verify they received the client’s
data
That PoRep is published to the
Filecoin blockchain
Over time, providers prove that they
still have random subsets of client
data, creating Proofs of SpaceTime
(PoST) published to the blockchain
Providers are paid incrementally in
FIL if they deliver the PoSTs and
penalized heavily (“slashing”) if they
do not
Towards the end of the
storage deal, clients either
renew the storage deal or let
it expire
Optional: Clients renew
their storage deal
Filecoin storage deal
Optional: Clients make a
retrieval deal to retrieve their
data
PoRep PoSt PoSt
Filecoin blockchain
Storage provider’s
data center

20. For permanence,
any
can be renewed
an infinite # of
times by anyone
or anything (e.g.,
a smart contract)
Future
Filecoin storage deal Filecoin storage deal …
Today
Storage deal
Filecoin relies on higher order
systems (e.g., smart contracts) to
enable permanence

21. For redundancy,
there can be an
infinite number
of copies of the
same
Filecoin storage deal …
Filecoin storage deal …
… …
# of
replications
Storage deal
Future
Today
…
…
…
Thousands of providers in the Filecoin
network compete for storage deals
which drives prices down

22. “Permanent” storage option relying on probabilistic and unverifiable assumptions
Using IPFS with Filecoin future-proofs storage
Filecoin deal Filecoin deal Filecoin deal Filecoin deal
Filecoin deal
# of
replications
Cloud Filecoin deal
Future
Today
?
The magic of IPFS Content IDs is that they’re a property of the data itself which makes them storage-layer
agnostics allowing for full flexibility and modularity
22

23. IPFS ❤️ Filecoin
23
IPFS for fast,
flexible retrieval
(gateways, local
nodes, browsers)
Filecoin for
persistence and
verifiability

24. IPFS & Filecoin:
DevTools 🎉
@jenksguo

25. Web3 all the way down
Chrome w/ IPFS
Companion, or
Brave Browser
ipfs://Qw134...h6
c
dweb-enabled
browser asks for
CID (ipfs://CID)
Use a storage
helper
Login with a
DWeb wallet
Regular browser
asks for CID via
http-gateway
(https://ipfs.io/ip
fs)
Load frontend
from IPFS
Use storage helpers
Simplify dealmaking
Find providers, negotiate
prices, wait for confirmations,
verify storage
Store to both IPFS and Filecoin
with a single call
IPFS for fast, flexible retrieval,
Filecoin for persistence and
verifiability
Store content on
IPFS & Filecoin

26. Fleek hosting
26
26
Designed for
● Fast, modern, censorship-proof
websites and web-apps on the open
web
● Works with most modern
frameworks (Docker, Gatsby, React,
Webflow, Hugo, Next, Jekyll, etc.)
How it works
● Connect your Github repository
● Add build settings
● Deploy your site to IPFS
● Backed up to Filecoin
Usage
● Github Actions
● CLI
● GraphQL API
fleek.co/hosting

27. NFT.Storage
Designed for
● NFT devs who want free, multi-
generational, decentralized storage
How it works
● Compute CID of data locally that can
be used in an NFT as a pointer to
your content
● Once data is uploaded, available to
retrieve via IPFS and backed up to
Filecoin (>8x redundancy)
● Long-term decentralization in the
works (smart contract-enforced
redundancy, DAO-based funding)
● Store everywhere else that makes
you comfortable
Usage
● Javascript client library
● HTTP API + remote pinning service
● Web interface
https://nft.storage/

28. Web3.Storage
Designed for
● General Filecoin & IPFS storage
● Familiar and simple interfaces
● Production-level storage and
retrieval reliability + performance
How it works
● Compute CID of data locally and
upload to edge worker
● Data immediately available to the
IPFS network
● Automatically stores with 6+ Filecoin
providers around the world
● 1TiB always free
Usage
● Javascript and Go client libraries
● HTTP API + remote pinning service
● Web interface
https://web3.storage/

29. Powergate
Designed for
● Developers who want powerful ways
to connect & extend Libp2p, IPFS,
and Filecoin
● Bridges to NEAR and (coming soon)
ETH, Polygon, & others
How it works
● Docker container wrapped around an
IPFS node + Filecoin node
● Stage, store, and retrieve data
● Default configs for miner selection
Usage
● JS & Go Clients
● gRPC API
● CLI
docs.textile.io/powergate

30. OrbitDB
Designed for
● Peer-to-Peer distributed database
How it works
● Uses IPFS as data storage and IPFS
Pubsub to automatically sync
databases with peers
● Implemented on top of ipfs-log
Usage
● Currently in active development
● Works in both browsers & node.js
● Compatible with js-ipfs & go-ipfs
github.com/orbitdb

31. Web3-enabled Architectures
...with decentralized possibilities at every layer
Filecoin & IPFS nodes
Storage Helpers
Simplify storing & retrieving
data (SDKs, hosted APIs,
and more)
Frontend
Logic
Standard application
logic or smart contracts
Web2
Web apps · Data solutions
Web3
NFTs · Dapps · more
31

32. IPFS & Filecoin:
Use Cases & Projects
@jenksguo

33. Who’s using IPFS & Filecoin?

34. Filecoin Ecosystem
34

35. Who’s using IPFS & Filecoin?

36. ● Tickets
● Game Assets
● Music
● UHD Videos
● AR/VR Assets
● Documents
● POAPs
IPFS & Filecoin: Scalable Storage for the next 1B
NFTs and the Metaverse

37. 11 Project
Ideas 🚀
Social network
Create a system that allows
people to share content to their
peers directly. No centralised
database or control over the flow
of data. Data can be transmitted
to peers via PubSub, important
items can be saved on-chain as
needed.
Video streamer
Build a new video sharing and
monetization mechanism by
distributing the video sharing
process. Publish videos to your
peers, with optional monetization
options through token.
Cache The Planet
Google stores popular javascript
libraries, and fonts on their
“hosted library” service, and
encourages folks to hard link to
them in their HTML. Can you
make a more resilient,
independent service for a modern
website?
Decentralised NFT
achievements
Create a system that games can
interface with to easily add
achievements into their games.
Special achievements could be
minted as NFTs for extra prestige.
Website archive
Build an app that takes a
snapshot of your website at a
certain time, and then preserves it
on the decentralized web.
Distributed metaverse
Build and design a metaverse
where any user can create their
own node or mint an NFT to host
land. Land would no longer be
controlled by a central entity,
drastically lowering the price of
digital space.
Hot or cold coffee?
Build a smart contract that uses
Arbol + Chainlink weather oracles
to check the current temperature,
then sends the correct-
temperature coffee (hot or iced)
to a recipient.
Git platform
Build a full decentralised platform
that integrates cleanly with git.
Users should be able to easily
create repositories, and have
other users contribute to them as
well. Bonus points for issue
tracking.
Youtube-DL-dweb
Add a wrapper around youtube-
dl/yt-dlp to preserve and share
videos on a decentralized storage
system.
37
Decentralized social
media standards
Define the standard formats for
social media primitives (such as
photos, comments, and updates)
that leverage CIDs for verification
and could be used in multiple
decentralized social media
platforms.
RSS emulator
Re-envision RSS feeds for a
decentralized world. Create an
IPFS node that publishes to a
pubsub topic whenever there’s
something new. Use an IPNS
address to contain all past
updates, by chronological order.

38. IPFS & Filecoin:
Social Good Initiatives
@jenksguo

39. Filecoin Green
Filecoin Green is an initiative that
seeks to make the Filecoin
blockchain carbon-neutral and, in
time, carbon negative.
Filecoin Foundation (and Protocol
Labs) is a member of the Crypto
Climate Accord (CCA)
Energy use Dashboard: https://filecoin.energy/
Blog: https://filecoin.io/blog/posts/filecoin-green/

40. Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralised Web (FFDW)
Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized
Web (FFDW) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose
mission is to ensure the permanent
preservation of humanity’s most important
information It does this by stewarding the
development of open-source software and
open protocols for decentralized data storage
and retrieval networks and focuses on
charitable activities related to preserving
important datasets, such as building and
supporting the decentralized web community,
funding research and development, and
educating the public about the decentralized
web.

41. Filecoin +
In order to maximize the amount
of useful storage that Filecoin can
support, Filecoin Plus was
introduced to offer a layer of
social trust.
Clients use a novel resource,
DataCap, to make deals with
storage providers who are greatly
incentivized to store their data as
it increases their share of block
rewards over time.
Blog: https://filecoin.io/blog/posts/filecoin-plus-how-
storage-providers-can-engage-with-verified-clients/
Github: https://github.com/filecoin-project/filecoin-
plus-large-datasets

42. Social Good Use Cases
● The Shoah Foundation in partnership with Starling Lab are
working to resiliently store the testimonies of genocide surviors
on Filecoin
● Internet Archive is collaborating with Protocol Labs on
onboarding a 2016 end of presidential term dataset (about
200TiB in size) to Filecoin
● Researchers and devs from Columbia University, Max Planck
Institute, and Conda are working to use IPFS/FIL to make
petabytes of climate data available to climate researchers.
● Opscientia is building a scientific ecosystem that unlocks data
silos, coordinates collaboration and democratises funding. The
team has begun storing data from open neuro projects on IPFS
+ Filecoin
● GainForest is a decentralised fund using artificial intelligence to
measure and reward sustainable nature stewardship. It uses
IPFS + Filecoin to store satellite images

43. IPFS & Filecoin:
What’s next!
@jenksguo

44. Filecoin Virtual Machine
(FVM)
The FVM brings general
programmability and EVM-compatible
smart contacts to the Filecoin
blockchain!!!!
https://fvm.filecoin.io/
Storage + Smart Contracts
<3

45. Looooots of opportunities for you to build
Hardware / Networking
Consensus
Compute
Smart contracts
User and client
interfaces
Common drivers of defensibility Example business models
Access to proprietary resource (e.g., IP, data),
economies of scale and scope, same-side network
effect
Transaction fees (e.g.,
storage deals)
Multi-sided network effects with some
opportunity to centralize
Transaction fees and/or
sales of some utility (e.g.,
Oracles, DataBounties,
DataDAOs)
Multi-sided network effects with strong
decentralization
Transaction fees (e.g.,
storage/retrieval providers
make deals), Storing-aaS,
Analytics, Genesis
allocation
Access to proprietary resource (e.g., IP, data),
economies of scale & scope
Sales of hard drives,
provision of data centers +
connectivity services

46. IPFS & Filecoin:
What’s New?
@jenksguo

47. Building Decentralised CDN
(Filecoin Retrieval.Market)

48. Retrieval.Market
The Filecoin Retrieval Market enables a
dCDN to emerge around the Filecoin
Network.

50. Project Status

51. Smart contracts +
provable storage = FVM
Filecoin Virtual
Machine (FVM)
DeveloperAlly

52. FVM is bringing on-chain user programmability to Filecoin
unlocking the next layer of innovation and value
Storage
Computation over state
On-chain
Computation over data …
Off-chain
Storage is only the start…..

53. FVM: Unlocking boundless possibilities
Storage Bounties
Replication Workers
Sector
Auctions
Perpetual,
renewable storage
Repair
Workers
Storage
Bounties
Time-locked Retrieval
Trustless Reputation Systems
Smarter Storage Markets
Quality of Service
Tokens
On-Chain
Voting
NFTs
Dataverse/Data DAOs
Storage Insurance
Automatic
Upgrades
Bulk
Discounts
L2 Commitments
DeFi for Storage
Decentralized, Verifiable
Computation
Storage
Futures/Derivatives

54. IPFS & Filecoin:
Resources & Getting
Involved
@jenksguo

55. Resources
Learn
● Protoschool
● NFTschool
● Docs
● YouTube
Contribute & Grants
● Hackathons.filecoin.io
● Grants (microgrants, specific projects grants + bounties)
● Github

56. Get in touch or be involved
Join the community:
● Discord & Slack
● Ambassador program
Chat with us:
● Developer Advocate
office hours
● Gathertown weekly
Stay informed:
● YouTube
https://bit.ly/36XGYGO
● Newsletters ipfs.io,
filecoin.io
● Twitter @ipfs @filecoin
● Hackathons page

57. Upcoming hackathons
● ETH Bogota
● ETH Lisbon
hackathons.filecoin.io

58. Alan Kay - Computer Scientist
“The best way to predict the
future is to create it”