The Filecoin Foundation is one of many teams within the Filecoin network dedicated to the evolution and success of the protocol. In this post, we highlight Filecoin’s growth metrics and outline some of the keys to further expansion in 2024 as proposed by ecosystem leaders, focusing on 1) expanding the client pipeline, 2) increasing on-chain activity, and 3) demonstrating value options relative to centralized storage. We then propose seven key initiatives to drive widespread adoption of Filecoin, followed by seven ways for the community to participate in the ecosystem. The Data Economy
We live in an age defined by data. Ninety percent of the world’s data was generated in the past two years. The rise of AI and machine learning technologies, which require large amounts of data for training and operation, are major contributors to the rapid increase in data generation. By 2025, 463 exabytes of data are expected to be created every day. Data powers every sector of the global economy. In this data-driven world, valuable digital assets will inevitably be recorded and tracked on blockchain networks to ensure transparency, security, and verifiability of ownership and transactions. These datasets require continuous proof in real time to prove that they are globally available, immutable, and verified with no single point of failure. Without such quality assurance, datasets, like any digital asset, will be at risk of losing value in this new digital economy. Going forward, as more data is traded, securitized, and monetized, data will transform from a cost center to a revenue center. Large Language Models (LLMs) require large amounts of high-quality data. As a result, data owners and creators will be able to unlock the true value of their data, rather than locking it up in centralized cloud repositories as they do today. No tool is better suited to support the data economy than Filecoin: the key to data provenance, authenticity, and verifiability in the high-frequency information age. Network Growth Metrics
Three years after the Filecoin mainnet launch, we are at a critical juncture in the ecosystem’s evolution. Adoption has been reached. Data is on the network. Network utilization has risen, driven by interest in the explosion of data in DePIN, computation, and the data economy. According to the latest Messari report, over 2,000 clients have loaded datasets onto Filecoin, with 508 large dataset clients storing datasets exceeding 1,000 TiB. Over 3,000 storage provider systems offer storage capacity to the network — a vast network of servers and small businesses dedicated to decentralized storage. The amount of data stored on the Filecoin network continues to climb. In Q1 2024, active transactions on the Filecoin network totaled nearly 1,900 PiB stored, up 200% year-over-year. Ansa Research recently published an article laying out ideas for Filecoin growth in 2024. In it, they highlight three areas of focus for the community this year: more transactions, more on-chain activity, and more concrete examples of value-add relative to other storage alternatives thriving in 2024. Below, we focus on these pursuits to better understand what success looks like. Three Keys to Filecoin Network Growth in 2024
Expanding the Storage Client Pipeline: A healthy pipeline helps support the foundational businesses working to build on Filecoin. This makes Filecoin more robust, more resilient, and more attractive to other clients seeking a proven decentralized storage solution. More on-chain activity: People and protocols paying to use block space are a sign of user adoption and activity. Network availability, transaction renewals, and smart contracts are examples of on-chain operations with quantifiable metrics that demonstrate the health and utility of the network. Availability: We can track this by tracking how data on the network is being retrieved and used. In order for data to be available, it needs to be indexed, just like Solana’s block history stored on the Filecoin network.
Renewals: How many storage customers are renewing? This is another indicator of utility. We want to see these numbers going up to the right.
Smart Contracts: The library of smart contracts available on Filecoin continues to expand. Smart contracts make Filecoin easier to use within the Filecoin ecosystem and across chains.
Proving Filecoin’s added value: Filecoin can become an indispensable tool for all companies that rely on big data (across Web2, Web2.5, and Web3). Mainstream tech companies looking to tap into the data economy can use the network for powerful, secure, and low-cost data storage. Filecoin complements emerging compute protocols, making it the go-to solution for secure, decentralized data storage and archiving. As new blockchain networks and layer 2 gain traction, Filecoin can be deeply embedded into their architectures, acting as a reliable and trustless storage layer. As more AI tools emerge, every AI marketplace can offer Filecoin as a default storage option to enable verifiability and traceability of data. This is a great opportunity for DePIN and compute networks to build on Filecoin. Seven ideas for the evolution of the Filecoin ecosystem
The Filecoin Foundation is one of hundreds of teams in the Filecoin ecosystem working to advance the network and the Web3 economy. We’re here to support teams and individuals like you. Some of you reading this are among the thousands of contributors to this project who have made it to where it is today. Others may be just getting started — as builders, storage providers, or storage customers. To foster broad adoption of Filecoin, the Foundation has proposed these seven key initiatives, focused around building new tools and services and forging high-profile partnerships and integrations. Build User-Friendly Storage Apps and Developer Tools: The network will benefit from more user-friendly storage apps, backup solutions, and developer tools that make it easy for anyone to harness the power of decentralized storage. Tools like Lighthouse and Seal Storage make it easier than ever to load data onto the network.
Building a hot storage solution: To make the network the go-to solution for storage, we need Filecoin’s new hot storage primitive to unlock fast cache-level storage for temporary data.
Build more data preservation applications: The network also needs more tools to leverage Filecoin’s unique capabilities as an immutable and verifiable data layer. Dozens of industries could benefit from such tools, including healthcare, scientific research, legal/property records, and more — all areas where information integrity is critical.
Building data sources and real-time verification: Filecoin-based projects can build tools that provide data sources and real-time data verification for AI models, IoT applications, etc.
Facilitate enterprise adoption: Companies that process large amounts of data (media companies, genomics companies, video game developers) can leverage Filecoin for storage to realize its decentralized architecture and cost advantages. The Decentralized Storage Alliance is a great resource to learn more about enterprise adoption.
Explore compelling integrations: Compelling integrations where users are advocates for the technology have a halo effect on the network. Just look at the discussion around the Solana-Filecoin integration. Teams like Farcaster, Bluesky, and Hivemapper fit this pattern. So do groundbreaking teams like The Starling Lab, which is uploading archival testimonies from genocide survivors from the USC Holocaust Foundation to the Filecoin network.
Dive deeper into emerging technologies: Developers can think about how to combine Filecoin with other emerging technologies, such as decentralized computing, DePIN, gaming, AI, DataDAO, etc. For example, Nodle is building a network of smartphone nodes to create a digital trust network, and the project recently announced that it will integrate Filecoin to decentralize data storage, thereby democratizing access to verifiable media. This is a great example of weaving together the DePIN narrative.
The combination of these efforts should generate significant, positive network effects. By pursuing these complementary avenues, Filecoin ecosystem stakeholders can help propel the network to become the preeminent, go-to platform for decentralized storage and data services in the digital world. Seven ways to get involved!
In addition to building, there are more ways to help expand the Filecoin ecosystem. You can get involved by connecting with the Filecoin community and the Filecoin Foundation team: Attend a Filecoin event. There’s nothing better than meeting a potential partner, client, or team in person to shake hands, close a deal, be inspired, or learn something new. The Filecoin Foundation team will be present at Consensus, EthCC, Token2049, Permissionless, and DevCon. Filecoin Orbit plans to host dozens of community events each year in cities around the world. We hope you’ll attend one or more of these events and connect with the Filecoin community.
Sell storage. Partner with one of Filecoin’s existing software platform providers to bring the value of decentralized storage to your own network and customer list. Most software providers in our community are willing to white label or partner with a master service provider, system integrator, or value-added reseller to help drive customer demand and growth.
Apply for a development grant. The Filecoin Foundation provides grant funding for critical development projects that build a more decentralized, efficient, and powerful foundation for humanity’s information. Grants support a wide range of projects — from developer and data tools and integrations to applications and research — that benefit ecosystem participants like developers and storage providers. Learn more about the types of projects the Foundation funds and how to apply.
Join the governance conversation. The Foundation coordinates community governance of the Filecoin protocol. Through the Filecoin Improvement Proposal (FIP) process, we aim to build a decentralized, innovative, and transparent system to support community decision-making and collective ownership of Filecoin technology. Dive into the governance process, including proposals, discussions, and technical documentation.
Become a Filecoin storage provider. There are no geographic restrictions to becoming a storage provider on Filecoin. Anyone with a powerful computer and electricity can participate. This means that anyone can start a business on Filecoin. This is a huge opportunity, and teams around the world are getting creative; just look at how the Lucky Storage team converted the old Lucky Strike tobacco factory in North Carolina into a storage facility.
Help build the Filecoin community. You can help drive network adoption by reaching out to the community to get more teams involved. Explain how Filecoin’s decentralized and trustless architecture ensures data integrity, while its open and permissionless nature promotes composability with other Web3 platforms. Highlight how Filecoin’s decentralized storage can be leveraged to reduce costs, increase redundancy, and provide a future-proof foundation for their applications. Check out the Filecoin Orbit Ambassador Program to learn how to host a Filecoin event in your community.
Store what you own. There are many applications for different storage needs - whether it's speed, security, long-term data retention, enterprise-class capacity or ease of use, enterprise-class capacity or ease of use. $FIL
