🔗 IPFS: Content Addressing Explained
Understand how IPFS uses CIDs for decentralized file storage
Compare IPFS, Arweave, and on-chain storage
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0 / 5 completed🌐 IPFS & Content Addressing
IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is the most popular storage solution for NFTs, used by OpenSea, Rarible, and most major platforms. Unlike traditional URLs that say "go to this server," IPFS uses content addressing—identifying files by what they are, not where they are.
🔨 Interactive: Content Addressing Demo
See how IPFS generates unique Content Identifiers (CIDs) from data. Change the content, get a different hash. Same content always produces the same CID—this is content addressing.
🔗 Location Addressing (Traditional)
- ✗Server can go offline
- ✗Content can be changed silently
- ✗Single point of failure
- ✗No verification of content
🌐 Content Addressing (IPFS)
- ✓Distributed across many nodes
- ✓Content is cryptographically verified
- ✓No single point of failure
- ✓Tamper-proof (hash changes if modified)
🛠️ How IPFS Works: Step-by-Step
⚠️ The Pinning Requirement
IPFS is not automatically permanent. Files are garbage collected if no node is "pinning" them. Pinning means telling a node: "Keep this file forever, don't delete it." Without pinning, your NFT images could disappear within days.
💡 Key Insight
IPFS solves the "where" problem by making content self-describing. A CID is a cryptographic fingerprint of the data itself—change one pixel, and you get a different CID. This means NFT buyers can verify they're getting the exact asset described in the metadata, and the content can be stored redundantly across thousands of nodes worldwide. However, IPFS alone doesn't guarantee permanence—that requires pinning services or protocols like Arweave.