 | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer Industry |
| Founded | May 2014  |
| Founder | Juan Benet |
Key people | Juan Benet, Marvin Ammori |
| Products | InterPlanetary File System, Filecoin |
| Website | protocol |
Protocol Labs is an open-source software research and development company, founded in 2014. It is best known for creating the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer decentralized web protocol, and Filecoin, a decentralized file storage network.
Juan Benet founded Protocol Labs in May 2014. Early work on open-source tools to simplify management, indexing, and conversion of large data sets led to the creation of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) - a peer-to-peer protocol for distributed files and offline applications. [1] To support the project and spur adoption, they developed a Filecoin protocol and token for decentralized file storage, to let users rent out unused disk space. [2] In 2020 Protocol Labs set up the Filecoin Foundation. [3]
IPFS was released in January 2015, [4] and Filecoin launched in 2017. [5] [6] Other projects developed by Protocol Labs include libp2p, a network stack for peer-to-peer apps and systems, which is used as the networking layer for IPFS; IPLD, a data model for interoperable protocols; [7] and the SAFT, a legal framework for token fundraising. [8] [9]
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of nodes.
Uploading refers to transmitting data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients, and terminals (SCP/SFTP). Uploading can be used in the context of clients that send files to a central server. While uploading can also be defined in the context of sending files between distributed clients, such as with a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol like BitTorrent, the term file sharing is more often used in this case. Moving files within a computer system, as opposed to over a network, is called file copying.
A dark net or darknet is an overlay network within the Internet that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, and often uses a unique customized communication protocol. Two typical darknet types are social networks, and anonymity proxy networks such as Tor via an anonymized series of connections.
Content-addressable storage (CAS), also referred to as content-addressed storage or fixed-content storage, is a way to store information so it can be retrieved based on its content, not its name or location. It has been used for high-speed storage and retrieval of fixed content, such as documents stored for compliance with government regulations. Content-addressable storage is similar to content-addressable memory.
A clustered file system (CFS) is a file system which is shared by being simultaneously mounted on multiple servers. There are several approaches to clustering, most of which do not employ a clustered file system. Clustered file systems can provide features like location-independent addressing and redundancy which improve reliability or reduce the complexity of the other parts of the cluster. Parallel file systems are a type of clustered file system that spread data across multiple storage nodes, usually for redundancy or performance.
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-source software.
Stellar, or Stellar Lumens, is an open-source, decentralized protocol for digital currency to fiat money low-cost transfers which allows cross-border transactions between any pair of currencies. The Stellar protocol is supported by a Delaware nonprofit corporation, the Stellar Development Foundation, though this organization does not enjoy 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the IRS.
The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol, hypermedia and file sharing peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system. By using content-addressing, IPFS uniquely identifies each file in a global namespace that connects IPFS hosts, creating a resilient system of file storage and sharing.
ZeroNet is a decentralized web-like network of peer-to-peer users, created by Tamas Kocsis in 2015, programming for the network was based in Budapest, Hungary; is built in Python; and is fully open source. Instead of having an IP address, sites are identified by a public key. The private key allows the owner of a site to sign and publish changes, which propagate through the network. Sites can be accessed through an ordinary web browser when using the ZeroNet application, which acts as a local webhost for such pages. In addition to using bitcoin cryptography, ZeroNet uses trackers from the BitTorrent network to negotiate connections between peers. ZeroNet is not anonymous by default, but it supports routing traffic through the Tor network.
PeerTube is a free and open-source, decentralized, ActivityPub federated video platform powered by WebTorrent, that uses peer-to-peer technology to reduce load on individual servers when viewing videos.
Hyperledger is an umbrella project of open source blockchains and related tools that the Linux Foundation started in December 2015. IBM, Intel, and SAP Ariba have contributed to support the collaborative development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers. It was renamed the Hyperledger Foundation in October 2021.
Filecoin (⨎) is an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital payment system intended to be a blockchain-based cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method. It was developed by Protocol Labs and shares some ideas from InterPlanetary File System allowing users to rent unused hard drive space. A blockchain mechanism is used to register the deals. Filecoin is an open protocol and backed by a blockchain that records commitments made by the network’s participants, with transactions made using FIL, the blockchain's native currency. The blockchain is based on both proof-of-replication and proof-of-spacetime.
Solid is a web decentralization project led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, originally developed collaboratively at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The project "aims to radically change the way Web applications work today, resulting in true data ownership as well as improved privacy" by developing a platform for linked-data applications that are completely decentralized and fully under users' control rather than controlled by other entities. The ultimate goal of Solid is to allow users to have full control of their own data, including access control and storage location. To that end, Tim Berners-Lee formed a company called Inrupt to help build a commercial ecosystem to fuel Solid.
TRON is a decentralized, blockchain-based operating system with smart contract functionality, proof-of-stake principles as its consensus algorithm and a cryptocurrency native to the system, known as Tronix (TRX). It was established in March 2014 by Justin Sun and since 2017 has been overseen and supervised by the TRON Foundation, a non-profit organization in Singapore, established in the same year. It is open-source software.
Avalanche is a decentralized, open-source proof of stake blockchain with smart contract functionality. AVAX is the native cryptocurrency of the platform.
The League of Entropy (LoE) is a voluntary consortium of organizations working together to implement an unpredictable, bias-resistant, fully decentralized, and publicly-verifiable threshold cryptosystem designed to deliver distributed Randomness as a Service, (RaaS) among other use cases. The open-source software that powers the League of Entropy's network is called drand,.
The decentralized web is a network of independent computers that provide secure, censorship-resistant access to information and services without relying on central servers or clouds, using decentralized computing.
MobileCoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency developed by MobileCoin Inc., which was founded in 2017 by Josh Goldbard and Shane Glynn.
0x is an open-source, decentralized exchange infrastructure that enables the exchange of tokenized assets on multiple blockchains. Developers can use 0x to incorporate exchange functionality into their applications, and market makers can use 0x to create markets for cryptocurrencies and tokens. ZRX, an Ethereum ERC-20 token, is the native governance and staking token of 0x. Individuals who own ZRX can vote on protocol changes and stake their tokens to earn liquidity rewards in Ether (ETH). The project's creator and core developer is 0x Labs.
Veilid is a peer-to-peer network and application framework released by the Cult of the Dead Cow on August 11, 2023, at DEF CON 31. Described by its authors as "like Tor, but for apps", it is written in Rust, and runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS, and in-browser WASM. VeilidChat is a secure messaging application built on Veilid.
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