A Brave step toward a decentralized web

If you use Brave as your browser, as I recommended some time ago, you will know that its newest update, 1.19, is now available. You won’t notice anything special about it, but you will have installed the first version of the browser that supports a new protocol for a distributed web, called InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS: an alternative network and protocol to HTTP.

Initially designed by Juan Benet and open sourced, an idea shared enthusiastically by many in that environment, IPFS tries to do something similar to what BitTorrent did in its time by decentralizing the distribution of files, or Bitcoin with the decentralization of money: while HTTP is designed for browsers to access information located on centralized servers, IPFS accesses that information on distributed node networks: you type an ipfs:// address in your browser, and the network is able to locate the nodes that have the content you’re looking for, content that can be anywhere that works as a server, and regroup to be served on demand. In addition, Benet also created Filecoin, a cryptocurrency that can be used as a payment system for renting space on unused hard disks, with a blockchain-based system for recording transactions.

IPFS allows users not only to receive, but also to host content, much like BitTorrent. Any user on the network can serve a file by its content address, and…