Filecoin is also launching a “Next Step Grant” for emerging NFT projects on Flow as part of the collaboration
Developer-friendly blockchain network Flow Blockchain has announced that digital data storage system Filecoin will be its official storage collaborator. The partnership between the two firms is expected to accelerate end-to-end ownership of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and enable holders and issuers to securely store and access their NFTs from everywhere.
The announcement comes months after Dapper Labs, best known for its development of the popular NBA Top Shot NFTs, stated that it was working to integrate the Flow Blockchain with the storage services offered by Filecoin.
Speaking about the importance of the collaboration to the broader NFT market, Flow Blockchain stated that integrating with Filecoin will empower users and developers to be more open, robust and decentralised.
It further added that the integration will help them manage not only their NFTs but also all media assets and metadata associated with them to enable decentralised storage of data on the blockchain.
Flow Blockchain will now have access to Filecoin’s InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a solution that can replace location addressing with content addressing.
Location addressing is a process whereby platforms retrieve the data of users based on specific locations on the web. This method, Filecoin argues, has clear downsides as it places the control of data with a centralised entity that owns the location.
“In content-based addressing, content is no longer retrieved from single locations on the web. Rather, content is retrieved from any participating nodes on the IPFS network that have the content you’re requesting,” Filecoin explained.
The collaboration will also allow Flow users to mint NFTs and store tokens in Filecoin’s blockchain-based cooperative digital storage.
Filecoin has also inaugurated a “Next Steps Grant” of $5,000 for every eligible NFT project that operates on the Flow Blockchain and integrates with IPFS. The announcement stated that projects for the grant will be chosen on a rolling basis and added that larger development grants, joint hackathons and other opportunities to enable Flow users to leverage the resources of Filecoin’s ecosystem were in the pipeline.
