FIL

Filecoin or FIL can be earned by miners when they provide storage to clients on the Filecoin network.

The Filecoin consensus implements two types of consensus protocols as proof of storage, i.e., proof of replication and proof of spacetime. Filecoin’s proof-of-storage consensus is compatible with any consensus protocol that allows for verification of Filecoin’s proofs. In a useful proof-of-work structure, miners do not have to spend their resources in wasteful computations while they can just store data under the proof-of-storage system. Thus, miners receive rewards when they present data proofs to the blockchain.

Moreover, proof of replication allows storage givers to prove that data is stored to its own dedicated physical storage. The protocol creates unique physical copies that enable a verifier to ensure that multiple copies are not stored in the same storage space. Next, proof of spacetime allows storage providers to prove that they stored some data over a specified amount of time.