I have recently discovered some blockchain based storage technologies like Storj and Sia.
I have vaguely understood that they rely on their own blockchain with their own cryptocurrency.
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But why are they not relying on preexisting blockchains like ethereum which are designed to be multipurpose ?
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What are their exact working principle ? Indeed up to now I was under the impression that storing data on a blockchain is very costly.
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How are they different from IPFS and Swarm, which to my understanding are protocols for decentralized storage, but that do not rely directly on blockchain technology ?
Cheers !
Edit: I have also read this answer, which brings a lot of good elements of understanding, but I am still missing something in terms of seeing what Sia and Storj bring that IPFS or SWARM did not already have.
Best Answer
I don't agree at all. Plus, @Meije is from Storj Team.
IPFS and Swarm are not just an idea but the most advanced technologies/protocols in decentralised blockchain based storage.
IPFS and Swarm are being used by the blockchain community.
Swarm: Swarm is part of the Ethereum stack http://swarm-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
IPFS: https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs A lot of LIVE projects are using IPFS
Updated comment (to reply to @mhham):
To make it quick - Swarm and IPFS are both implementing a solution for efficient decentralised storage layer. They are very similar - they are based on a different community and a different low-technical aspect.
IPFS uses a DHT (Distributed hashed table) whereas SWARM an immutable content addressed chunkstore.
SWARM is integrated into Ethereum - therefor it can use the smart contracts and the entire protocol.