IPFS, a Blockchain-based peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol, is officially launching its distributed file storage network on Ethereum instead of Bitcoin, explaining it by “the Ethereum network’s supportive development community and various innovative features.”
Filecoin, a data storage network and electronic currency designed for the IPFS protocol, was developed in 2014 on the Bitcoin network to operate as the foundation of the hypermedia distribution protocol which enables users to organize, distribute, analyze, and store information in a more transparent and unalterable network based using the Blockchain technology.
Protocol Labs, the team behind the development of IPFS and Filecoin, initially began the development of the IPFS protocol on the Bitcoin network to utilize its immutability and unprecedented security measures.
Working for Bitcoin
At the early stage of development, the synergy between the Bitcoin network and IPFS protocol led to the emergence of various use cases, which allowed the protocol to operate as a distributed web network by cryptographically hashing each file embedded into the Blockchain network.
Security of the Bitcoin network granted the immutable infrastructure IPFS needed to carry out vital operations like storing unalterable data, removing duplicated files across the network, and accessing nodes to search for files in the network.
The Blockchain-based infrastructure of the entire protocol meant that it would perform more efficiently than existing alternatives with lower costs and bandwidth. The IPFS states that companies with large amounts of data could potentially save millions in bandwidth with a peer-to-peer approach.
Migrating to Ethereum
However, the IPFS decided to migrate to the Ethereum network after recognizing a significant difference in the development communities between the two networks. The IPFS development team believes that the unified and highly functioning development community of the Ethereum network is one of the greatest assets of the network which will ultimately affect the IPFS protocol in a wide range of factors.
Experts, including initc3 co-director and Cornell Professor Emir Gun Sirer, after the announcement of IPFS emphasized the importance of a functioning development community.
The value of a functioning dev community is often underestimated. https://t.co/92xK19H0QI
— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) September 21, 2016