Digital asset exchange Gemini and CoinList will commence trading in Filecoin (FL) tomorrow (October 15, 2020). Deposits and withdrawals will be available at 10:30 am ET on Thursday when the Filecoin Mainnet launches.
Filecoin is the native token of the Filecoin Network – a distributed cloud-like network that seeks to compete with the likes of AWS or Azure. The decentralized network allows miners, both big and small, to compete to store data. Popular files may be hosted in many locations bringing data closer to users. The network seeks to bring data closer to the end-user, unlike more traditional cloud operations.
A project by Protocol Labs, Filecoin was the inaugural token offering on CoinList raising over $200 million. The offering took place in 2017 so the project has been in the works for the past few years.
Filecoin (the token) can be used to purchase storage space and retrieve files. Gemini says the “decentralized model offers a compelling alternative to existing centralized cloud storage offerings.”
Coinlist describes Filecoin as a “key milestone in the Internet’s evolution” and the future of data storage:
“In the Filecoin model, data storage becomes a marketplace, where anyone can pay for access for storage or earn revenue by providing access to data storage. Instead of 5 providers owning the entire data storage marketplace, the economic benefits of data storage are dispersed throughout the world, reducing costs, limiting censorship, data theft, creating redundancy, and democratizing opportunity.”
At a minimum, Filecoin may be viewed as a touchstone decentralized project as conceptually the network makes a lot of sense. Of course, Filecoin’s success will be judged by uptake and the efficacy of the decentralized storage approach and how the old crowd decides to compete.
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