Friends, have you heard of #Filecoin? The most comprehensive deep dive into Filecoin's history, the surge and return of the king!
Recently, the recovery of the crypto market has shifted people's attention back to Filecoin, the king of altcoins, a unique Web3 infrastructure project. With the recent launch of the IO project, which was incubated by Filecoin, on Binance, and as Filecoin's price begins to break out from a significant drop of 98%, this once-trillion-level project is officially back in the public eye. As one of the few large-scale developments that has remained low-key in recent years, with the amount of code updates only second to Ethereum's vast ecosystem, how will Filecoin narrate the story of enduring hardship and returning as a king in the future?
I and my founded ND Labs have been deeply involved in the construction of the Filecoin network and ecosystem since its inception. ND Labs has been a notary for Filecoin in the Greater China region since 2021 and the regional head for the Orbit ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region. I have fully experienced the ups and downs of Filecoin over the past few years, and now it is rejuvenated and ready to start anew.
As a leader in decentralized physical infrastructure connected to reality, Filecoin introduced the new concept and direction of DePIN after its emergence. Over the past few years, Filecoin has experienced multidimensional expansion from a storage network to a data service platform and deep integration with AI. This article will outline the significant developments of Filecoin since 2021 and explore its potential benefits and future potential.
Before diving in, let me share some recent potential benefits of Filecoin to allow those not interested in the details of Filecoin's development to take away the key points.
● Core Technology Upgrade: Proof of Data Possession (PDP) is expected to be realized in Q1 2025, which will support hot storage capabilities and expand practical application scenarios. Fast Finality (F3) is scheduled to go live in January 2025, significantly reducing transaction confirmation times to within minutes, greatly enhancing network efficiency.
● Cross-chain and diversified application scenarios: The deep integration with blockchains like Solana and the exploration of new fields such as AI and DePIN in 2025 will further solidify Filecoin's position as the core infrastructure of Web3.
● Stablecoin Economic Effect: $USDFC (expected to be launched within a month) is expected to improve the payment and incentive mechanisms within the Filecoin ecosystem, enhancing overall liquidity.
● The value of real data is increasing: In Q1, important commercial collaborations will be announced. With the continuous introduction of real data, the practical application value and commercialization potential of the Filecoin network will be further enhanced.
● L2 and Subnetwork Effects: In 2025, a mature plan to stimulate Layer 2 ecology will be launched, expected to bring more transaction volume, storage demand, and economic activity, driving sustainable growth of the network's mainnet economy.
Filecoin's 2025 Goals:
At the FIL Bangkok event in 2024, the Filecoin team proposed three core goals for 2025:
1. Enhance user stickiness, becoming an 'indispensable' tool for users in the AI and Web3 era.
2. Promote growth in paid storage transaction revenue to achieve sustainable development of the ecological economy.
3. Promote comprehensive prosperity of network economic activities through stablecoin and SP staking plans, as well as network fees.
Technical Field: From Storage Network to Smart Contract Innovation
Since the mainnet went live on October 26, 2021, Filecoin has completed 10 network upgrades and 65 Filecoin Improvement Proposals (FIPs). The most recent upgrade was completed on November 20, 2024, codenamed 'V24 TukTuk'.
Key Technological Advances
1. Storage Efficiency Optimization
• In 2021, the introduction of SnarkPack technology improved storage proof efficiency by 10-25 times and launched the Fil+ incentive program, bringing in over 3,000 storage nodes and pushing the network's storage capacity past 12 EiB.
2. FVM and Smart Contracts
• On March 14, 2023, the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) went live, bringing smart contract support to the network, allowing developers to build complex decentralized applications (dApps), including permanent storage, data computation, and more.
3. Interplanetary Consensus (IPC)
• From April 2023 to July 2024, Interplanetary Consensus achieved full functional deployment of subnets, introducing cross-chain interaction and higher scalability for Filecoin.
4. Fast Finality (F3) Protocol
• In June 2024, the core development team of Filecoin released the draft of the F3 protocol, planning to increase the network finality speed by 450 times, greatly enhancing user experience and transaction performance.
5. Stablecoin Release
• In November 2024, Filecoin launched its first stablecoin $USDFC in collaboration with Secured Finance, further enhancing the ecological economic system.
6. Proof of Data Possession (PDP)
• In April 2024, the core development team of Filecoin FilOz introduced a new Proof of Data Possession (PDP) to enhance L1 storage capabilities, which will enable hot storage functionality for the Filecoin network.
Since the launch of the Filecoin mainnet in October 2021, the Filecoin community has gradually moved towards its goals in three phases, according to the 'Filecoin Master Plan' proposed by Protocol Labs founder Juan Benet. On a technical level, through continuous network updates and optimization of storage efficiency, Filecoin has made significant progress in 2022 in Phase 1 and Phase 2, becoming the largest distributed storage network in terms of global storage capacity, attracting over 3,800 nodes that collectively contribute over 17 million TB of storage capacity.
Starting in 2023, Filecoin has ushered in a new era of smart contract programming, subnet support, and cross-chain interaction by introducing innovative technologies such as FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine), IPC (Interplanetary Consensus), and F3 (Fast Finality Protocol). These breakthroughs further solidify Filecoin's position as a core infrastructure for Web3, driving its ecosystem towards a more diversified and scalable future.
Ecological Level: Real Data and Industry Integration
Real data drives the practicality of the network
When the Filecoin network began to develop, Filecoin Plus (Fil+) was introduced as an optional layer different from the core protocol, providing community members with an alternative pathway for importing real data while incentivizing storage providers to help onboard client data to the network.
The Fil+ program has driven the true data storage of the Filecoin network:
● In 2022, the amount of real data stored reached 25 PiB, achieving a growth of 1821% in 2023.
● By 2024, the network has cumulatively stored over 2 EiB of Web2 and Web3 data.
Corporate Cooperation and Multi-Chain Integration
Filecoin has established partnerships with several well-known institutions and blockchain projects:
● Collaborating with research institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley, and CERN to store scientific data.
● In 2024, Filecoin became the preferred data storage solution for the Solana network.
Juan Benet, founder of Protocol Labs, shared the integration of the Filecoin network with existing and upcoming integrations with Solana at the Solana Breakpoint conference in Singapore in September 2024.
The extensive application of real data has not only enhanced the actual value of Filecoin but also set a benchmark for the decentralized storage market. As a leader in the public chain field of Web3 infrastructure, the Filecoin network, with its 2 EiB of real data storage, is equivalent to storing billions of high-definition movies or millions of research-grade datasets. As of November 2024, the total storage capacity of the Filecoin network has reached 23 EiB, demonstrating strong scalability. The rapid growth of real data storage further enhances the network's practical application value. Meanwhile, Filecoin's gradual deployment in scenarios such as NFT storage and distributed scientific data storage showcases its broad potential and application prospects in the Web3 field.
Expanding Application Scenarios: Integration of Smart Contracts and AI
Filecoin adheres to the plan of becoming a more indispensable part of building web3 — from being the storage layer for all blockchain states, to DePIN network foundational data, to smart contract data. The Filecoin Foundation's official website has listed 178 ecosystem projects covering nine fields, including artificial intelligence, education and academia, health, finance, media and entertainment, networking, public goods, etc.
Smart Contract Applications
Since the launch of FVM, Filecoin has attracted numerous developers to explore new decentralized application scenarios:
● As of November 2024, Filscan recorded 86 DApp projects, primarily consisting of DeFi and infrastructure contracts.
According to DefiLlama data, the total TVL (Total Value Locked) of the Filecoin network has reached $82.77 million.
High-value applications and computing L2 based on Filecoin
With the launch of Interplanetary Consensus (IPC) on the Filecoin mainnet in 2024, we see the rise of Filecoin L2 — especially those built on Filecoin's vast storage, computing, and infrastructure strengths. All these L2s will bring more utility, storage usage, collateral demand, and transaction volume back to the Filecoin mainnet.
Recently, Filecoin released an article on L2 development overview (filecointldr.io/article/state-…
) that introduces L2 innovations such as Basin, Akave, and Storacha Network, which not only address scalability and cost challenges but also improve data processing efficiency and performance.
● On November 12, 2024, Akave Network raised $3.45 million in seed funding led by @protocollabs, #BlockchangeVentures,
@Lightshift_xyz and @theBBFund.
AI and Big Data Integration
Filecoin has become the preferred platform for AI data training and storage through efficient storage solutions:
● In 2024, Filecoin collaborated with well-known AI projects such as SingularityNET to provide infrastructure support for decentralized AI networks.
The Filecoin network meets the urgent demand for open AI systems and enhances the resilience of digital infrastructure by achieving decentralization and transparency, providing an alternative to centralized models.
The latest announcements from the ecosystem highlight various applications of Filecoin in the AI field. From decentralized storage integration to open human datasets, making Filecoin data more accessible and usable, to comprehensive solutions for storing and processing machine learning (ML) workloads, Filecoin has become the DePIN primitive for the AI wave.
Community and Governance: Global Layout and Local Support
Orbit Program
The Orbit community program supported by Protocol Labs and the Filecoin Foundation was launched in January 2022, aiming to promote, accelerate, and incentivize the development of diverse crypto hubs with boundary-less influence, giving people from various backgrounds equal opportunities to understand disruptive Web3 technology and its various applications.
● The Orbit program has cultivated 147 ambassadors in 40 countries and hosted 190 community events.
Global Activities
Since the mainnet went live, the Filecoin ecosystem has participated in hosting or sponsoring a total of 73 events worldwide, covering various forms such as seminars, summits, hackathons, and boot camps.
• FIL Singapore 2022 was the largest Filecoin event in Asia, attracting over 1,600 participants. It also hosted 30 community-led side events and the first-ever FIL.VC, with over 300 investors and 26 projects built using decentralized storage.
• In 2024, the inaugural issue of the (Filecoin Ecosystem Digest) included articles (fil.org/digest/from-pa…) highlighting ND Labs' contributions as an active community participant in promoting decentralized activities, showcasing the Filecoin Foundation's proactive support for a series of vibrant activities led by community members.
Funding Program: Empowering Developers and Community
The Grant program of Filecoin is an important component of its ecological development, consisting of the following two core elements:
1. Filecoin Foundation Grant Program
The Grant Program established by the Filecoin Foundation primarily targets developers and teams, funding projects aimed at enhancing the Filecoin ecosystem. These projects cover decentralized storage tools, data management platforms, developer tools, etc., providing support ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 for technological innovation.
2. FIL RetroPGF (Retroactive Public Goods Funding)
In March 2024, the Filecoin network launched the RetroPGF program, aiming to reward teams and individuals that have made significant contributions to the ecosystem through post-event incentives, such as open-source tools that improve network performance and community activities that promote ecological development. This model further incentivizes community members' enthusiasm and promotes long-term ecological prosperity.
● The first phase of the FIL RetroPGF program awarded a total of 224k FIL to 99 active ecological projects. As shown in the diagram.
In September 2024, the second round of FIL-RetroPGF rewards will begin, with a total of 300,000 FIL allocated to projects that contributed to the network over the past six months. The timeline is shown in the diagram.
In September 2024, the second round of FIL-RetroPGF rewards will begin, with a total of 300,000 FIL allocated to projects that contributed to the network over the past six months. The timeline is shown in the diagram:
Through the Grant program, Filecoin has attracted more developers, researchers, and enterprises globally, injecting continuous innovation into the ecosystem.
Summary: Continuous breakthroughs of Filecoin
This article is organized and published by Vito @Vito_168 and the @imNDLABS team for @Filecoin @FilFoundation
From the infrastructure in 2021 to the service upgrade in 2024, Filecoin's growth path demonstrates its evolution from a storage network to a smart contract and data service platform. The growth trajectory of Filecoin is clear and full of potential.
Despite ongoing challenges, its continuous breakthroughs in technology and ecology, diverse ecological applications, and solid community governance have allowed Filecoin to not only occupy an important position in the decentralized storage market but also become a significant driver of the Web3 and AI technology era. Against the backdrop of rising coin prices, Filecoin will continue to drive growth through innovation, injecting new vitality into the future of the data economy.
The content published by this account is for learning and communication purposes only. It aims to convey more market information and does not constitute any investment advice.