Proof of Storage (Filecoin, Arweave) vs Proof of Stake for Data Availability

Permanent, verifiable data persistence: Data is stored on-chain with cryptographic proofs (PoRep/PoSt, SPoR). This matters for archival data, NFT media, and legal records where deletion is not an option. Arweave offers one-time payment for perpetual storage (~$5/GB).

Higher latency and cost for high-throughput DA: Retrieval times are slower (seconds to minutes) versus instant availability. Transaction finality is slower (~30s Filecoin, ~2m Arweave). This is a poor fit for high-frequency rollup sequencing or real-time state updates.

High-throughput, low-latency data posting: Optimized for rollup sequencers to post batches cheaply and quickly. Celestia achieves ~100 MB/s block space. EigenLayer restakers provide cryptoeconomic security. This matters for modular blockchains and high-TPS L2s like Arbitrum.

Temporary data availability window: Data is typically only guaranteed available for weeks (e.g., Celestia's 21-day window). Long-term persistence is the app's responsibility. This adds complexity for permanent data use cases and shifts archival burden to indexers like The Graph or centralized services.

Cryptographic guarantee of data storage: Filecoin uses Proof-of-Replication and Proof-of-Spacetime; Arweave uses Proof-of-Access and a permanent endowment. This matters for archival data, NFT metadata pinning, and decentralized app backends where data loss is unacceptable. Protocols like Livepeer (video) and Audius (audio) rely on this for permanent asset storage.

Predictable, low-cost storage: Filecoin storage costs $0.0000002/GB/month; Arweave offers a one-time, upfront fee for perpetual storage ($5/GB). This matters for dApp developers and media platforms needing to store terabytes of immutable data without recurring fees. It's a core infrastructure for projects like Solana's state history (via Arweave) and Polygon's data availability layer.

Optimized for speed, not permanence: PoS-based DA layers like Celestia, EigenDA, and Avail achieve 10-100 MB/s data availability. This matters for high-frequency rollups (e.g., Arbitrum, Optimism) and gaming states where block times are sub-second and cost per transaction is critical. The trade-off is data pruning after a challenge period (e.g., 2 weeks).

Native compatibility with EVM and modular stacks: PoS DA layers use blob transactions (EIP-4844) and data availability sampling (DAS) for efficient verification. This matters for teams building L2s or appchains who need plug-and-play data availability without managing storage deals or retrieval markets. It's the preferred choice for zkSync, StarkNet, and Polygon CDK chains.

Data retrieval is not free or instant: Retrieving data from Filecoin requires payment to storage providers and can have latency. This matters for applications requiring real-time data access, like dynamic web apps or high-frequency trading. Solutions like IPFS caching and Filecoin Saturn are emerging to mitigate this, but add architectural complexity.

Data is not stored permanently: PoS DA layers typically prune data after a challenge period (e.g., 2 weeks on Ethereum, configurable on Celestia). This matters for applications requiring guaranteed long-term data access, such as legal documents or historical financial records. Teams must implement their own long-term storage solution, often bridging to Filecoin or Arweave.

Guaranteed archival storage: Filecoin's 540+ EiB storage capacity and Arweave's 200-year endowment model ensure data is stored for decades, not just made available for block production. This is critical for NFT metadata permanence, decentralized frontends, and historical data archives where retrieval guarantees are paramount.

Higher storage cost per byte: Paying for verifiable, long-term storage is inherently more expensive than temporary data availability. Storing 1 GB on Arweave costs ~$8-12, while posting 1 MB of blob data on Celestia mainnet costs ~$0.003. This trade-off is only justified for permanent assets where re-uploading is impossible or undesirable.

Optimized for rollup scalability: Celestia's 100 MB blocks and EigenDA's 10 MB/s throughput provide sub-cent data posting fees for L2s like Arbitrum Orbit and OP Stack chains. This is the optimal choice for high-frequency DeFi applications, gaming states, and social feeds where data is needed only for fraud/validity proofs, not eternal storage.

Data availability, not persistence: PoS DA layers typically guarantee data availability for a challenge period (e.g., ~2 weeks on Ethereum, days on Celestia). After this, full nodes may prune the data. This is a risk for long-tail dApps that assume permanent accessibility. Choose this only if your rollup has a robust data backup solution or your state transitions are short-lived.