What Is Filecoin and What Is Its Outlook? (feat. IPFS Decentralized Storage)

Think back to when you first started using the internet. Just being able to look up information felt amazing back then. Over time, though, both our role and the structure of the internet have kept evolving.

Now we have entered a new world called "Web3.0." What sets it apart most from what came before is the philosophy that "the owner of the data is the user, not the company."

Filecoin is a blockchain project that emerged amid this shift. Filecoin is building an internet structure that works in a completely different way from before.

In this post, we'll look at what Filecoin is and how it differs from existing systems. We'll also go over where Filecoin is used, its future outlook, and some points to keep in mind.

What Is Filecoin?

Filecoin is a crypto asset and storage system that runs on top of IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). What does that mean? It's "a system where people around the world lend out their spare hard drive space and get rewarded for it."

For example, let's say you're using a 1TB external hard drive and have 300GB left over. If you connect that spare space to the IPFS network and store other people's data on it, you can receive Filecoin (FIL) in return.

To understand Filecoin in a bit more detail, you need to understand the existing internet system and the IPFS system. What are the basic concepts behind these two systems, and how do they differ?

How Is IPFS Different from the Existing Internet?

Most of the internet we use today is based on HTTP. In this model, you request data from a specific server address and receive the information. But this structure has a few major problems.

Namely, all data is delivered from centralized servers, and governments or companies can block and censor it. It's also vulnerable to hacking. IPFS, on the other hand, runs on the computers of users around the world, so it is structurally hard to block and far more secure.

IPFS stores each file by its hash value, so wherever you are in the world, it quickly loads the data from the nearest node. Simply put, it's a user-centered internet rather than a server-centered one.

Why Is Filecoin Needed?

IPFS alone makes storage possible, but it has no system for finding people to provide storage space and paying them for it. That's why a reward structure called "Filecoin" is needed.

1. Storage providers: people who lend out storage space → receive FIL tokens
2. Users: people who want to store data → pay fees in FIL tokens
3. Blockchain: records who stored which file and when → ensures transparency

Thanks to this structure, anyone in the world can take part in data storage services, and Filecoin is the incentive and economic reward that keeps this system running.

What Is Filecoin's Future Outlook?

There are a great many industries where Filecoin could actually be put to use. It's especially well suited to "fields where data storage is important but central servers are a burden." For example, in the NFT space, it could serve as a way to reliably store metadata such as images and videos.

On top of that, data from governments and public institutions also needs to be preserved without censorship, forgery, or tampering, and distributed storage using Filecoin meets these requirements.

Finally, it also has big advantages as a personal backup option, since it can offer a higher level of privacy protection than existing cloud services.

How to Buy Filecoin

You can buy Filecoin after signing up for an exchange such as Binance, Bybit, or Upbit. Simply deposit KRW or USDT, search for 'FIL', and place a buy order. After trading, you might also consider moving it to a personal wallet such as MetaMask or OKX Wallet for stronger security.

Wrapping Up

The Web3.0 we talk about isn't simply about technological progress. More fundamentally, it means a change in the philosophy behind the internet. At its core is the idea that "data belongs not to the platform, but to the users themselves."

The technology that puts this philosophy into practice is the combination of IPFS and Filecoin. To sum up, Filecoin isn't just a coin; it's infrastructure that serves as the "storage" for safely storing and managing digital assets in Web3.0.

However, it's important to understand that a "token's value" is by no means the same as how promising a project is. The Filecoin project itself may succeed, but its token can be overvalued or undervalued, so a careful approach is needed when investing.