What Is Filecoin (FIL) How It Works & Where To Buy It?

Filecoin (FIL) aims to disrupt file sharing by utilizing a decentralized storage network. FIL tokens power the network and are used to pay for transaction fees among others.

Filecoin claims that if enough people adopt it, it could revolutionize the way data is stored on the internet. Data storage will sequentially be faster and cheaper than current data storage providers.

FIL token is currently the 37th largest cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalization.

How Filecoin (FIL) Works

Filecoin positions itself as the perfect project to pioneer the decentralized file storage space. The most critical issue with file sharing is that monopolies can adjust prices at their discretion and because of their enormous market share, this impacts users drastically.

The Filecoin network would essentially put the power back in the hands of the people – file sharing would be devoid of government censorship or other major players.

Storage miners are tasked with maintaining the integrity and decentralization of the network. Miners compete to earn FIL tokens and storage space is allocated to users who pay the relevant storage provider.

The Filecoin network operates congruently with the interplanetary file system – the major difference is that IPFS is free, while the Filecoin network isn’t. However, there are revenue incentives to ensure the security and other integral factors impacting the decentralized ecosystem.

Essentially, Filecoin aims to incentivize storage providers to store data of random users (miners get rewarded for storing data), disrupt centralized storage systems like Amazon Web Services, and facilitate a mutually beneficial decentralized file sharing peer-to-peer network.

Filecoin’s consensus mechanism is proof of replication as opposed to other blockchains which typically use proof of work or proof of stake mechanisms.

What Is Filecoin (FIL) Used For?

Unlike centralized storage systems, Filecoin’s network is decentralized and censorship-resistant. This is especially necessary when considering that Amazon Web Services has a 33% market share.

The entire ethos of blockchain and cryptocurrency is to remove the power from the hands of central authorities and redistribute it to the people. Filecoin claims to be the perfect alternative to major corporations that currently control the market.

Essentially, miners become independent storage providers and users can freely share data, retrieve data (retrieval miners) and facilitate a decentralized file sharing network that prioritizes the participants.

Making storage space accessible, affordable, and censorship-resistant to billions of people will be the main utility that drives the growth of the Filecoin network.

Where To Buy Filecoin (FIL)

FIL tokens are frequently traded and available to purchase on most cryptocurrency exchanges. FIL token saw its most significant price appreciation during January 2021, when it reached its all-time high of $188.

Five of the most popular crypto exchanges are:

1. Gate.io
2. HTX
3. KuCoin
4. BitHumb
5. Crypto.com

Individuals should also note that the safest way to store tokens is in a digital or hardware wallet. Some of the most reputable wallets are MetaMask and Ledger Nano X.

About Filecoin (FIL)

How long has Filecoin (FIL) existed?

Filecoin was initially released on the 15th of July 2014 by Juan Benet.

The Filecoin mainnet went live in October 2020 and the FIL token saw its greatest trading volumes and price appreciation after its mainnet launch.

What’s controversial about Filecoin (FIL)?

The crypto market is constantly expanding with new and innovative (some not so innovative) projects entering the space. It’s essential to research projects, their history, founders, and other critical information before investing.

Let’s take a look at the top two controversies surrounding Filecoin (FIL):

• Small team of advisors received a great deal – Something that irks a lot of people is when a select few people get preferential treatment. In Filecoin’s case, a select group of 150 advisors received a massive portion of FIL tokens at a much cheaper price than the public did.

  This has caused a great deal of controversy among the community and although it’s common for this to occur, Filecoin has been a major propagator of decentralization and equality. The advisor’s deals don’t align with the ethos Filecoin claims to uphold.

• ICO funds raised – Filecoin held an ICO on multiple platforms but the amount they sought to raise was astronomical. They planned to raise $700M for a product that hadn’t even been created yet. Many individuals are struggling to make sense of why such an exorbitant amount needed to be raised and how they determined these calculations. To date, Filecoin hasn’t sufficiently addressed these concerns.

How many Filecoin (FIL) tokens are there?

At the time of writing, Filecoin (FIL) has a circulating supply of 193,576,266.00 FIL.

The total supply of Filecoin (FIL) is 193,576,266.00 FIL.

Can Filecoin (FIL) be mined?

Filecoin (FIL) is a mineable cryptocurrency. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum which use proof of work consensus algorithms and require intensive rigs to mine, mining Filecoins is different from classic mining.

Instead, miners don’t contribute computational power but rather contribute storage capacity. Miners earn FIL tokens for lending out storage space to users seeking to store data.

Storage prices are therefore significantly cheaper and more decentralized than traditional storage providers.

What is the market cap of Filecoin (FIL)?

The following calculation to work out the market cap of any cryptocurrency:

The total amount of coins in circulation times the current market price.

Filecoin (FIL) Market Cap = 193,576,266.00 FIL x $18,51 = $3,58 billion (37th largest cryptocurrency by market cap).

Be aware that the market cap fluctuates according to circulating supply and market price.

Biggest Competitors Of Filecoin Network And FIL Token

The file storage market has seen blockchain integration by a few major projects. Filecoin is the oldest project aiming to provide blockchain-based data storage solutions but other notable competitors include Storj and Sia Coin.

The cloud storage market is expected to grow to more than $220 billion by 2027 – blockchain solutions will likely pioneer the future of the market.

What Are The Future Plans Of Filecoin Network And FIL Token

Filecoin has announced plans to further streamline the revenue rewards for storage miners, expand their market share and continue to add further utility.

At the moment, Filecoin users can expect the project to keep progressing significantly in the upcoming months.

Filecoin recently announced a partnership with Chainlink which will integrate cloud storage and oracles in a decentralized and innovative way. Smart contract inputs and outputs will serve to bridge the two projects.

The venture also aims to help develop Web3 and expand on the possibilities of oracles and decentralized data storage providers.

FIL token has recently seen a decline in its price, as have many tokens following the Bitcoin price correction. The FIL token is currently trading at $18 which is significantly lower than its all-time high of $188.

Pros And Cons Of Filecoin Network And FIL

Pros:

• Decentralized data storage – The cloud storage market is currently dominated by a select few companies. This is especially concerning because they have the power to make adjustments to pricing and other crucial elements, without much pushback. This puts consumers at a disadvantage because they don’t necessarily have any influence, their only alternative is to move to other centralized competitors.

  This is where Filecoin provides consumers with a much-needed decentralized and censorship-resistant option. Essentially, Fliecoin aims to counter the powers of the monopolies and give power back to consumers.

• Low network fees – The fees incurred on the Filecoin network are considerably cheaper when compared to traditional cloud storage providers. Blockchain-based data storage providers will be a much more cost-efficient option for consumers.
• Miners are incentivized – The network’s security and functionality are facilitated by miners who lend out available storage space to users. This system ensures that there is always a financial incentive driving the network and sustaining the security and growth of the network.
• Devoid of censorship – One of the major issues with centralized cloud storage providers is that they can be influenced by central authorities. Filecoin positions itself as a decentralized storage provider which is devoid of censorship. Essentially, users will always be able to freely share data without the influence of any central authorities or governing bodies. Many individuals believe that this upholds the freedoms that should be an integral part of people’s rights.
• Real use case – Many projects entering the crypto space claim to provide solutions to real-world problems. More often than not these problems aren’t necessarily dire issues. Filecoin however does have a use case that solves a real-world problem.

Cons:

• Major competitors – Filecoin is up against giants in the industry. Its competitors include the likes of Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. These two cloud storage providers already have a combined market share of nearly 50%. Additionally, these two service providers have already amassed millions of clients, most of which opt to choose them because of convenience and credibility.
• Lack of interest – Blockchain user adoption is rapidly increasing but it’s important to remain realistic. Blockchain-based cloud storage providers have yet to garner the interest of the masses and therefore are currently at a slight disadvantage.

  The adoption of blockchain technologies is imminent but the process might still take many years. This puts projects like Filecoin on the backfoot when it comes to the likelihood of major user adoption.