Filecoin Proof-of-Replication vs Arweave Proof-of-Access: Consensus & Security

Proof-of-Replication (PoRep) & Proof-of-Spacetime (PoSt): Storage providers must cryptographically prove they store unique, replicated copies of your data over time. This matters for high-availability applications like video streaming (Livepeer) or active datasets (Ocean Protocol) where data must be reliably retrievable.

Slashing & Collateral: Providers lock FIL as collateral, which is slashed for failures. This creates a strong crypto-economic guarantee against data loss. This matters for enterprises and DAOs (e.g., NFT.Storage) storing high-value assets where contractual reliability is non-negotiable.

Proof-of-Access (PoA): Miners prove they store all historical data on the chain to add new blocks. This enforces true permanence. This matters for long-term preservation of critical records, smart contract state, or foundational datasets (like the Solana state archive) where deletion is not an option.

Endowment Model: Pay once for ~200 years of storage, funded by a sustainable endowment. This provides perfect cost predictability. This matters for protocol treasuries and public goods (like the Internet Archive's data) that require guaranteed, long-term availability without recurring fees or budget management.

Cryptographic proof of unique data storage: Miners must prove they store a unique, un-replicated copy of your data via Proof-of-Replication (PoRep) and Proof-of-Spacetime (PoSt). This matters for auditable, enterprise-grade storage where data integrity and retrievability are contractually enforced. Protocols like Polygon zkEVM use Filecoin for verifiable data availability layers.

High barrier to entry for storage providers: The sealing process for PoRep is computationally intensive (requires GPUs), and ongoing Proof-of-Spacetime (PoSt) challenges incur continuous gas fees. This matters for cost-sensitive applications as it translates to higher, more variable storage fees for end-users compared to simpler models.

One-time, upfront payment for perpetual storage: The Proof-of-Access (PoA) consensus incentivizes miners to store the entire chain history, guaranteeing data permanence. This matters for archival data, NFTs, and static web apps where long-term cost predictability is critical. Projects like Solana use Arweave as a permanent ledger snapshot.

Data is immutable and append-only: The economic model is optimized for permanence, not frequent updates or deletions. This matters for dynamic applications (e.g., mutable user profiles, regularly updated datasets) where Filecoin's renewable storage contracts offer more flexibility. Tools like Bundlr help but don't change the core protocol constraint.

Verifiable Storage Guarantees: Miners must prove they store a unique, encoded copy of your data. This is enforced by cryptographic proofs (PoRep & Proof-of-Spacetime). This matters for enterprise-grade SLAs and regulated data where verifiable custody is non-negotiable.

Complex Economic Model: Storage is a paid, renewable contract (e.g., 1.5 FIL/TiB/year). This introduces ongoing cost management and renewal risk. This matters for long-term archival (>100 years) where predicting and managing future payments is a liability.

True Permanent Storage: A one-time, upfront fee buys ~200 years of storage, backed by a sustainable endowment. The consensus requires miners to randomly access old data to mine new blocks. This matters for permanent web3 primitives like smart contract history (e.g., Solana's state) and NFT metadata.

Throughput & Cost Volatility: Network is optimized for permanence, not raw throughput. High demand can spike base fees (measured in AR per MiB). This matters for high-frequency, large-scale data ingestion (e.g., daily L2 state snapshots) where predictable cost and speed are critical.