Decentralized Storage — ungovernable.tech

The Core Distinction

Decentralized storage is not one thing. Systems in this space answer different questions:

Question	Primitive	Example
How do I know this is the exact file?	Content addressing	IPFS CID, Blossom SHA-256
Who keeps a copy online?	Pinning or storage deal	IPFS pinning, Filecoin deal
Who pays for persistence?	Market or endowment	Filecoin, Sia, Storj, Arweave
How do apps find it?	Gateway, name, or server list	ENS, PKARR, Blossom kind 10063
Is the content private?	Client-side encryption	Sia renter encryption, age before upload

The most common mistake is treating content addressing as availability. An IPFS CID proves integrity, but if nobody pins the blocks, retrieval fails. A Blossom URL contains a SHA-256 hash, but if no server keeps the blob, the hash only proves what disappeared.

Families

Content-addressed retrieval

IPFS gives files content identifiers (CIDs), splits them into blocks, and retrieves them from peers over libp2p. It is excellent for integrity and distribution. Persistence is external: run your own node, use a pinning service, or pair IPFS with Filecoin.

Storage markets with proofs

Filecoin and Sia pay storage providers to keep user data. Filecoin adds Proof-of-Replication and Proof-of-Spacetime to prove storage over time. Sia uses file contracts and renter-side erasure coding. These systems are closer to cloud storage markets than to social-media media hosting.

Permanent public archives

Arweave uses a pay-once model backed by an endowment and proof-of-access-style mining. It is a fit for public artifacts intended to remain immutable: publications, NFT metadata, source snapshots, legal records, and web archives.

Encrypted object storage

Storj behaves like S3-compatible object storage where data is encrypted client-side, split, erasure-coded, and distributed across independent storage nodes. It gives less ideological purity than a fully trust-minimized protocol, but better operational ergonomics for backups and applications.

Application media layer

Blossom is Nostr's pragmatic blob layer: HTTP servers store SHA-256-addressed blobs, users authenticate with Nostr keys, and clients discover a user's preferred servers via a replaceable Nostr event. It is not a global storage blockchain; it is a portable media-server protocol.

Comparison

System	Addressing	Persistence model	Privacy default	Best fit
IPFS	CID	Pinning / replication	Public unless encrypted	Distribution and verifiable links
Filecoin	PieceCID / deal	Paid storage deals + proofs	Public unless encrypted	Large datasets, verifiable retention
Arweave	Transaction ID	Pay-once archival endowment	Public unless encrypted	Immutable public archives
Sia	Contracted shards	Renter contracts	Client-side encryption	Low-cost backup/object storage
Storj	Object keys	Commercial node network	Client-side encryption	S3-like app storage
Swarm	Content hash	Postage batches + incentives	Public unless encrypted	Ethereum dapp assets
Blossom	SHA-256	User/server policy + mirroring	Public unless encrypted	Nostr media and file portability

Threat Model

What these systems improve

Integrity. Content hashes make substitution obvious.
Provider independence. Data can move across gateways, mirrors, nodes, or storage providers.
Censorship resistance. Takedown requires suppressing every meaningful replica, not one account.
Longevity. Paid contracts or archival models make persistence explicit.

What they do not solve alone

Confidentiality. Public storage should be treated as public. Encrypt sensitive data before upload.
Discovery. A content hash is not a human name. Pair with Overview - Decentralized DNS, PKARR, ENS, or a signed index.
Deletion. Durable public storage and deletion rights are in tension.
Endpoint compromise. If the user's device leaks keys or plaintext, storage decentralization does not help.
Gateway trust. HTTP gateways can censor or log requests. Verify content hashes client-side and use multiple gateways for availability.

Operational Patterns

Public artifact

Use Arweave for immutable archival copy, IPFS for broad distribution, and publish both identifiers through ENS, PKARR, or a signed website.

Private backup

Encrypt locally with age Toolchain, then store copies across Sia/Storj plus an ordinary cloud account. Decentralization is the availability layer; encryption is the privacy layer.

Nostr media

Upload media to Blossom servers listed in the author's kind 10063 server list. Include the SHA-256-addressed URL or NIP-94 metadata in posts. Mirror popular files across several servers.

dapp frontend

Build static assets, publish to IPFS and Arweave, pin on multiple providers, and put the root CID / transaction ID behind ENS or another resilient name.

Attack Surface

Attack	Affected systems	Mitigation
Content substitution	Gateway-based retrieval	Verify CID / SHA-256 locally
Data unavailability	IPFS, Blossom, unpaid mirrors	Pin, mirror, or pay for storage contracts
Provider collusion	Storage markets	Erasure coding, multiple providers, audits
Traffic analysis	Public gateways and DHTs	Tor, private gateways, local nodes
Plaintext exposure	All public storage	Encrypt before upload
Legal takedown	Gateways and hosted servers	Multi-jurisdiction replication, content-addressed mirrors
Key loss	Encrypted storage	Hardware-backed key custody and recovery plan

Primary sources

For a practical selection table, see Choosing Decentralized Storage. Continue with Syncthing, Tahoe-LAFS, Local-first Software and CRDTs, BitTorrent for Archive Distribution, IPNS and DNSLink, Hypercore and Hyperdrive and Kiwix. For a worked setup, follow Private File Sync and Backup. For replicated code and collaboration records, see Radicle.

Continue with CryptPad.

Page history

Updated: 2026-10-25
Origin: Compiled from the ungovernable.tech research notes.
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