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IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System

IPFS. Juan Benet.

Name a file by its hash. Retrieve it from any peer who has the bytes. Version history is a graph of hashes, not a folder on one machine.

A reading of the public document. Not a copy of it, and not a claim about a later network that reused the name.

A project that says 'stored on IPFS' has named an address. It has not named a retainer.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
2

Code

Source, repository, and what is actually hosted

  • IPFS drafthttps://ipfs.tech/ipfs/QmR7GSQM93Cx5eAg6a6yRzNde1FQv7uL6X1o4k7zrJa3LX/ipfs.draft3.pdf
  • The source URL is not a GitHub repository. No code remote is invented.
  • Full text is not mirrored. Public availability is not a licence to copy the file onto this site.
  • Add to a reading list

01 Claim ledger

What the paper is allowed to say

Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.

  1. Claim 01 · Paper model

    The defect

    The web addresses servers. A file that moves servers changes its name. A file you wanted can be replaced at the same name.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The rule

    Name a file by its hash. Retrieve it from any peer who has the bytes. Version history is a graph of hashes, not a folder on one machine.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    How it is put together

    Content addressing means the name is the data. Peers exchange blocks. There is no promise that someone is storing the data tomorrow.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    Where the claim stops

    IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.

02 Three cuts

Observation, model, falsifier

A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.

  1. 01 The defect

    Observation

    What the study says

    The web addresses servers. A file that moves servers changes its name. A file you wanted can be replaced at the same name.

    Model

    What has to hold

    IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Who is paid, if anyone, to keep the bytes?

  2. 02 The rule

    Observation

    What the study says

    Name a file by its hash. Retrieve it from any peer who has the bytes. Version history is a graph of hashes, not a folder on one machine.

    Model

    What has to hold

    A hash does not prove availability next week.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Who is paid, if anyone, to keep the bytes?

  3. 03 How it is put together

    Observation

    What the study says

    Content addressing means the name is the data. Peers exchange blocks. There is no promise that someone is storing the data tomorrow.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The draft is not the current implementation spec.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Is the name a hash of the content?

  4. 04 Where the claim stops

    Observation

    What the study says

    IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.

    Model

    What has to hold

    IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Who is paid, if anyone, to keep the bytes?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01Chunk a file.
  2. 02Hash the chunks.
  3. 03Ask the network for the hash. Any peer with the chunk can answer.
  4. 04Who is paid, if anyone, to keep the bytes?

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. Why it is still on the desk

    The cut

    A project that says 'stored on IPFS' has named an address. It has not named a retainer.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.

  2. After the text

    The cut

    Filecoin later added payments and proofs on top of this addressing. The 2014 draft is the retrieval idea.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Model · Not re-measured

    IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.

  • Cryptography · Not re-measured

    A hash does not prove availability next week.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    The draft is not the current implementation spec.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

Filecoin later added payments and proofs on top of this addressing. The 2014 draft is the retrieval idea.

A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.

07 Pre-mortem

What to check before you use the idea

  4. 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.

08 Anatomy

The paper, in the order a builder needs

The problem it names

The web addresses servers. A file that moves servers changes its name. A file you wanted can be replaced at the same name.

What the design proposes

  • Content addressing means the name is the data.
  • Peers exchange blocks.
  • There is no promise that someone is storing the data tomorrow.

How the mechanism is specified

  • Chunk a file.
  • Hash the chunks.
  • Ask the network for the hash. Any peer with the chunk can answer.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • IPFS is not Filecoin. It does not pay anyone to store.
  • A hash does not prove availability next week.
  • The draft is not the current implementation spec.

Why the desk still reads it

A project that says 'stored on IPFS' has named an address. It has not named a retainer.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Content address
An identifier computed from the bytes.
Pin
A node's decision to keep a chunk. Not a global guarantee.

10 Repository

Every linked record on this page

Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.

Concepts

Protocols

This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.

Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.