on the crypto
A beta version of "Permanent Dropbox" was launched last week on Arweave. “Arweave is the only crypto network that claims to have implemented persistent data storage, so there is no other place I could have built it,” ArDrive founder Phil Mataras said in an interview.
Towards a digital, permanent and "virtually unlimited" Library of Alexandria
The new file sync app allows users to pay a one-time fee, depending on the price of Arweave tokens, and have their data (documents, photos, videos) live forever on the web, with no data weight limits or fear of censorship.
“We have a good use case because everyone can understand it,” Mataras said. He said that users are often struggling with many of the new blockchain apps, especially the new DeFi apps, which aren't as easy to use as a Bitcoin system, eg.
"It is already difficult for people to understand what they are, let alone how to use them," said Mataras. Arweave is based on the same idea as the recently launched Filecoin decentralized file storage and content distribution network, but with further ambitions towards a digital, permanent and “virtually unlimited” Library of Alexandria.
A new project for permanent data storage
Arweave founder and CEO Sam Williams added that a Permanent Dropbox is an obvious use case of the network and people should be able to understand it without difficulty. Specifically, the difference is that by the time an information is uploaded to Dropbox today, its business model could change in a decade or two, so what happens to the archived data from 2020? “With ArDrive, the system never changes,” said Williams.
"It's kind of like Ethereum's 'code is law' philosophy, except for web services." At this stage, ArDrive only allows users who already own Arweave tokens to upload their data.
New services for users by 2021
Mataras said that over the next six months the team will strive to build bridges with fiat currency as a way to expand ArDrive's user base. “We want to make it really easy for anyone to swipe a credit card, buy a pad and start uploading their files,” he said.
Mataras added that an ArDrive desktop application for Mac, Windows and Linux will be released in December and a mobile app will arrive in the first quarter of 2021. Arweave, launched in June 2018, currently has 350 apps running on the network.
The protocol announced earnings-sharing tokens this summer that allow companies on Arweave to mint their own assets. Since then, 26 projects on the network have minted their own tokens.
