How Filecoin Supports Video Storage

Since its inception, Filecoin’s mission has been to store the world’s most valuable information. Today, video is a prominent source of communication and content on the web. And nearly every new device is equipped with a camera, making it easier than ever to capture and document the world around us. So it makes sense that a host of new tools and services are being built with Filecoin to store video data.

Today, 80% of internet bandwidth is consumed by video streaming, according to Livepeer CEO Doug Petkanics. Livepeer is a decentralized live-video streaming infrastructure, secured by the Ethereum blockchain. When combined with Filecoin and IPFS for storage and content delivery, decentralized video applications now become possible.

In a Web 2.0 world, streaming and storing video data is expensive. Livepeer estimates that most companies pay about $3 per stream per hour to centralized cloud services, on top of the cost of media servers and bandwidth for a content delivery network. As a result, some video streaming companies today end up folding or selling data to advertisers to make ends meet.

“Video is a growing medium for communication, especially in a socially distanced world,” Petkanics said. “When you have a low-cost, reliable infrastructure like Livepeer and Filecoin you’ll start to see vertical-specific streaming platforms that allow creators to have better relationships with their economics and their audience, models that aren’t subject to the ad-centric business model of Web 2.0.”

Today at Liftoff Week, Livepeer will debut file.video, a new way to upload and share videos. This application serves as both a useful tool that can be used today to share videos, and as an open-source template for any developer looking to build a web3 video application.

Livepeer focuses on live streaming, rather than on video-on-demand. Petkanics said he’s been pleased to see the open-source community building on the Livepeer protocol. One example is BUIDL Labs, which was able to leverage Livepeer’s transcoding infrastructure and Filecoin storage to create a video-on-demand product like YouTube.

Another team building on top of Livepeer is Voodfy. Developed by Leandro Barbosa, Voodfy is building decentralized tools for private video hosting. It’s an all-in-one secure streaming solution that gives users complete control of their content – including who can access it and how it’s monetized. And it uses Livepeer, Textile Powergate, and Filecoin for cold storage of videos.

“Many companies and individuals use online videos as a strategy to share their knowledge, wanting to monetize them without having a lot of effort with complex video infrastructure,” said Barbosa. “They want a robust solution to do it in a safe, simple, and reliable way, with protection against piracy. And they want to be able to offer high-quality video content with the most optimal viewing experience for their users, reaching them whatever they are.”

Barbosa’s vision for web3 is one that is open, free, and independent. “The first moment that I read the slogan at Filecoin, I loved the project and the philosophy to end centralization and return the data to people.”

Learn more about Livepeer, Voodfy, and Filecoin for video storage when Doug Petkanics and Leandro Barbosa take the stage today at 3:05 PM PDT as part of Filecoin Liftoff Week. Also check out the full Liftoff schedule to learn more about the Filecoin ecosystem and how you can get involved.