Filecoin at a glance.
Filecoin launched its mainnet in 2020 as a decentralized storage network, a form of DePIN, or decentralized physical infrastructure. Instead of securing the chain with generic mining or staking, storage providers commit real disk space and earn FIL for storing client data and continually proving they still hold it.
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Value locked in DeFi protocols on Filecoin. Updated Jun 2, 2026. Source: DefiLlama.
FIL
Used for fees and securing the network. See the live FIL price.
How Filecoin works.
Filecoin secures the network using storage-based proofs. Proof of Replication shows that a provider has stored a unique copy of a client's data, while Proof of Spacetime requires providers to repeatedly prove over time that they continue to store it. A provider's influence over block production is tied to the amount of storage they contribute, which links network security to useful storage work.
Filecoin secures the network using storage-based proofs. Proof of Replication shows that a provider has stored a unique copy of a client's data, while Proof of Spacetime requires providers to repeatedly prove over time that they continue to store it. A provider's influence over block production is tied to the amount of storage they contribute, which links network security to useful storage work.
Decentralized storage
Filecoin is a marketplace for data storage. Clients pay to store files, and a global set of storage providers competes to hold that data and prove they are doing so.
Storage proofs
Providers must continually generate cryptographic proofs that they are still storing the data they agreed to keep. Failing to do so costs them rewards and collateral.
DePIN model
Filecoin is an example of decentralized physical infrastructure, where real-world resources, in this case disk space, are coordinated and paid for on-chain.
FIL token
FIL is used to pay for storage, to reward providers, and as collateral that providers lock up as a guarantee they will keep storing data.
What Filecoin is used for.
Filecoin is used for storing data rather than for DeFi. Its primary role is a decentralized storage marketplace, and it connects to retrieval and compute layers that build around stored data.
Decentralized data storage
Clients store files across a distributed set of providers and pay in FIL, with proofs that the data remains available.
Archival and backups
Large datasets, archives, and backups are stored on Filecoin as an alternative to centralized cloud storage.
Storage provision
Providers contribute disk space and earn FIL for storing client data and meeting their storage proofs.
Data for web3 apps
Applications use Filecoin to store content, such as NFT media and datasets, in a decentralized way.
Hold, swap and spend FIL.
Filecoin is integrated in the Zypto App. Hold FIL in self-custody, swap it to any supported asset, and use it across Zypto’s features.
Be the reason Filecoin ships next.
Filecoin isn’t in the Zypto App yet. Post the request to your followers, chains with the most demand get prioritised.
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