Filecoin News 102
✨ Highlights ✨
Introducing the Checker Network: the fusion of Filecoin Station & Filecoin Spark
The Checker Network brings verifiable reputation data to DePINs, much like Google Maps Reviews, but instead of rating restaurants, it evaluates DePIN nodes and networks. Born from the fusion of two Filecoin projects, Filecoin Station and Filecoin Spark, the Checker Network remains deeply rooted in the Filecoin ecosystem and the Protocol Labs Network, where it was initially incubated.
At its core, the Checker Network is designed to host Checker “subnets.” Filecoin Spark serves as the first Checker Subnet, showcasing how these subnets can measure, verify, and improve web3 networks while rewarding participants. This structure allows anyone to build their own Checker Subnet, opening new opportunities for network accountability and growth. Excitingly, the Filecoin Station App and Node will transition into the Checker App and Node. Check it out!
Fast Finality Updates: Progress, Insights, and Next Steps
The latest blog post on Fast Finality (F3) provides updates following intensive mainnet passive testing at 100% scale. While the testing revealed promising results during the Bootstrap phase, challenges in the Steady State phase, including inconsistent progress and bandwidth usage, highlighted the need for further optimizations. These insights have led to an adjusted timeline for F3 deployment, now targeting Q2 2025, to ensure a robust and reliable implementation. Upcoming improvements will address network congestion and parameter tuning, with additional passive testing planned alongside the Network v25 upgrade. Stay tuned for future updates on F3 incentives and optimization strategies! Dive into the full blog to explore the technical insights, testing outcomes, and what’s next for F3 as we prepare for its Q2 2025 mainnet launch!
🌎 Community Updates 🌎
Amplifying the Impact: FIL-RetroPGF-2 with Drips
Congratulations to all FIL-RetroPGF Round 2 recipients! This round uses Drips, a decentralized toolkit for Continuous Dependency Funding, to amplify impact by encouraging recipients to split their funds among team members, maintainers, and critical dependencies. This approach fosters sustainability, fairness, and resilience across the Filecoin ecosystem, ensuring resources flow to often-overlooked contributors who support decentralized systems. Inspired by projects like Ethers.js, where 40% of funds are redistributed to dependencies, recipients can create a Drip List to allocate funds automatically and maximize their impact. Learn more in the full blog post.
Preserving Cultural Heritage with Filecoin
On January 21st, the Filecoin Foundation announced a partnership with leading organizations like Smithsonian Institution, Flickr Foundation, Internet Archive, MIT Open Learning, and Starling Lab to safeguard over 500,000 culturally significant digital artifacts on the Filecoin network. From Alexander Graham Bell’s earliest sound recordings to Flickr Commons' most viewed photographs, these datasets highlight the transformative power of decentralized storage in protecting humanity’s history. By ensuring data integrity, provenance, and accessibility, Filecoin is pioneering a new era of digital preservation. Learn more about how decentralized storage is shaping the future of cultural preservation in the announcement.
Incentivizing F3 Participation: Proposal for Reward Mechanisms
The Filecoin community has proposed a new reward mechanism to incentivize participation in Fast Finality (F3), ensuring its robust performance on mainnet. The proposal allocates up to 10% of mining rewards to validators actively participating in F3, verified through finality certificates. This approach aims to directly reward protocol engagement, discourage free-riding, and maintain inclusivity while ensuring the total rewards for Filecoin Storage Providers (SPs) remain unchanged. The mechanism leverages aggregated BLS signatures and incentivizes validators to include as many participants as possible in the certificate. Technical and economic details, alongside strategies to address challenges like free-riding and operational costs, are outlined in the full proposal. Learn more about the proposed reward system and its role in strengthening F3 on Github.
Shape the Future: Onboarding Fee Gas Reductions Discussion Live
A new Filecoin proposal is exploring significant changes to the onboarding fee structure to make the process simpler, fairer, and scalable. The update would replace the Batch Balancer with a per-sector fee, offering key benefits like increased scalability beyond the current ~3 PiB/day, predictable fees for Storage Providers, and long-term sustainability by aligning fees with storage demand. Two fee models are under review: a flat per-sector fee for simplicity and predictability, and a dynamic per-sector fee that adjusts based on demand. Your feedback is crucial to refining this proposal, join the discussion and share your thoughts today.
🎉 Events 🎉
Get Ready for Filecoin Code n' Corgi at ETHDenver
Join FIL-B for Filecoin Code n' Corgi on February 28th at ETHDenver, the ultimate developer-focused series for web3 innovators and builders. Featuring hands-on workshops, lightning talks, ecosystem updates, and open networking, it’s the perfect place to connect, collaborate, and innovate in the Filecoin ecosystem. Stay tuned for speaker updates, and follow FIL-B on Twitter for the latest news. Interested in sponsoring? Reach out to [email protected]. Register to attend now!
Save the Date: FIL Dev Summit 06 in Toronto
Mark your calendars for May 12-13, 2025, as FIL Dev Summit returns, this time in Toronto! Join an incredible gathering of builders, developers, and visionaries for two days of impactful discussions and collaboration that will shape the future of Filecoin. Don’t miss your chance to connect, innovate, and contribute to the network’s evolution. Secure your ticket now and be part of the momentum!
