Top 10 Blockchain Storage Platforms You Need to Know

Your company will benefit in multiple ways by learning today's top 10 blockchain storage platforms. These systems help businesses and users save on their data and operating costs by handling the heavy computational lifting. As such, they are now more important than ever.

Advantages of Blockchain storage

When you compare blockchain storage networks to traditional centralized competitors, like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure, the differences quickly become evident. Decentralized networks offer efficient, secure, and transparent solutions to the market at lower costs.

Data Storage on the Rise

Statistics continue to point to continued expansion in the blockchain storage sector. Estimates place the market at $137B by the end of 2025. This 20% increase will be driven by added accessibility and functionality within the blockchain storage sector.

Today's advanced blockchain storage platforms offer more than just a place to keep your data safe. These networks enable you to secure passive returns by renting out your unused hard drive space and computational power to others. Here are the top 10 blockchain storage platforms making it happen right now.

1. Filecoin

Filecoin is one of the oldest contenders on this list. The original whitepaper for the project was published in 2014 by Protocol Labs. The network launched officially in 2017 and, within a few years, became one of the most recognizable names in the distributed file-sharing market.

Filecoin leverages a custom-built blockchain that integrates a Proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to improve results with a Proof of Replication consensus mechanism that works in tandem with the Proof of Space-Time algorithm to provide validity and authentication responsively.

Filecoin miners validate the original data, how long it has existed, accessed times, alterations, and storage used. They receive compensation in the form of FIL tokens for their efforts. These tokens can be used to pay fees, access services, or trade for other cryptocurrencies.

Filecoin has a cool swarm structure that improves data transfer between users. Swarm tech connects nodes in a seamless and peer-to-peer manner to improve performance. All of these features have helped Filecoin become a reliable option in the market.

2. Storj

Storj is an open-source blockchain storage platform that remains a pioneering force in the market. The platform hosts +16k active storage nodes distributed globally. As such, your data remains safely protected and stored in redundancy.

Storj earned a strong following due to its easy-to-use interface and features. Users can drag and drop their data to begin the encryption or decryption process. The network automatically encrypts and splits the data into indistinguishable pieces and randomly distributes it to the network.

Storj users enjoy affordable and reliable cloud services. Those seeking to secure passive rewards can rent out their HD space and secure tokens for their efforts. You can also earn rewards by distributing and archiving data.

Storj leverages enterprise-grade end-to-end encryption that is completed on the client side before upload. As such, you can access your information globally in real time. Also, the network has a unique structure that enables access to your data even if the node goes offline.

3. Sia Network

The Sia Network integrates a high-performance data marketplace where hosts and those seeking storage space can meet and do business securely. This trustless cloud storage exchange enables those providing data storage to remain anonymous, which helps improve security.

The marketplace provides a lot of flexibility to the storage providers and users. They can negotiate terms such as the amount of storage and price. Sia Network leverages the Proof of Storage mechanism to ensure that all nodes remain secure and reliable.

Notably, the Sia Network offers low-cost data storage to users, which has helped it gain a strong following. The platform champions censorship-free data storage, which is another draw. In the Sia Network, nobody can see your data or that it belongs to you.

Miners secure rewards in the form of SIA tokens for their storage space or by providing other services to the network. The same token is how users interact with Sia Network features. The combination of heightened security and anonymity makes Sia Network a wise choice to check out.

4. Arweave

Arweave entered the market in 2017 with the lofty goal of archiving all of humanity's data on the blockchain. The concept of creating infinite knowledge databases has existed for a long time and is referred to as the permaweb. Today, the permaweb is the focus of multiple projects.

Arweave takes the concept even further with the Blockweave strategy. These structures create an affordable and tamper-proof solution that offers users performance, security, and reliability. Already, Arweave has a massive community of developers and users.

There are +300 Dapps currently leveraging Airwaves capabilities to improve their functionality. The Arweave automatic auto-scaling features ensure that the network doesn’t get congested or a reduction in performance. As such, the platform has become a great way to archive videos, images, web pages, and much more.

Arweave empowers developers to build more robust applications to serve the community. For example, there are already applications that users can leverage to secure passive rewards, provide data streaming to projects, and much more. In this way, Arweave provides secure cloud storage and can offer Oracle services to the market.

5. Flux

Flux entered the market in 2018 and has grown into a massive storage network that spans +15K decentralized nodes, +108,000 CPU cores, and +288 terabytes of RAM. Interestingly, Flux entered service under the name Zcash before rebranding multiple times. In 2021, Flux became the official brand.

Flux leverages a versatile distributed infrastructure that offers censorship-resistant storage to users. The platform is unique because it was designed to host the next-gen Dapps and integrate directly into DeFi options. This interoperability has helped the community grow.

Flux node operators leverage a varied PoW consensus mechanism to secure the blockchain.  This algorithm is similar to the PoW found in other networks, but it leverages ASIC-resistant mining algorithms and the Proof of Useful-Work consensus to prevent miner centralization.

Flux supports a large amount of hardware. For example, PlFlux Nodes can be run on Raspberry Pi, PC, Server, and VPS hardware. This flexibility improves onboarding and enables more innovation. Additionally, the project is community-led via a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) that enables users to put forth upgrades and vote on changes.

6. Ocean Protocol

The Ocean Protocol entered the cloud storage race in 2017, among stiff competition. The Singapore-based platform operates as a fully decentralized P2P data exchange marketplace. This trustless platform lets Users share and monetize their storage space and data.

Some of the main benefits of the Ocean Protol include the ability to access private information without the need to access or compromise the raw data directly. Additionally, every interaction with the data is recorded on the blockchain, making it immutable.

Notably, Ocean protocol enables enterprises to customize their marketplace solution to improve their offerings and returns. Nodes can secure returns, providing validation, data retrieval discovery, and verification services. You may also share files freely if you desire.

The main benefit of the Ocean protocol is that it creates an auditable trail of all data interactions. Additionally, the customizable marketplace features allow you to do cool things, like providing certain users access to lower-cost data based on their past interactions with you.

7. Akash Network

The Akash Network entered the sector in 2015 and is based in San Francisco, CA. The platform provides decentralized cloud computing services to the public and business sectors. The ecosystem includes a high-performance marketplace that connects data providers with buyers securely.

The Akash Network operates on the Akash blockchain. This DPoS (Delegated Proof-of-Stake)  network provides scalability and access to passive returns via staking options. Notably, the Akash Network leverages the Cosmos SDK.

This technical structure enables the network to operate freely within the Cosmos ecosystem. Users can set up validator or data-providing nodes on various Cosmos networks to secure additional rewards. Additionally, the platform is open-source, which means developers can create by leveraging its capabilities.

The  Akash GPU Market Testnet is a virtual environment where developers can create and test their dapps before releasing them on the mainnet. This structure helps to ensure only quality projects are launched and helps to reduce unwanted congestion.

8. Holo

Holo offers the HoloChain community high-performance storage and much more. The network entered the market in Oct 2017 and leverages a dual tokens structure to provide secure, reliable, and near real-time access to data for developers, academics, and users.

Holo users have a lot of flexibility in that they can configure custom marketplaces including personalized offerings and prices. This capability makes the platform ideal for those seeking low infrastructure costs while not reducing scalability. Holo users can even grant free access to users they desire.

Interestingly, all network nodes manage and store data on a distributed hash table. The data storage process on Holo includes double-entry accounting entries that have vital details. These entries can provide info regarding minting, burning, and mining activities.

The network uses a Proof of Service mechanism that supports interoperability between centralized and distributed networks. Developers leverage HoloFuel to pay for smart contract executions, while users leverage the Holo Token to access features.

9. BitTorrent Token

BitTorrent remains one of the most successful distributed networks in the world. While not a blockchain, the project has leveraged distributed computing power since September 2004 to fight censorship and provide data storage and sharing to the globe. The network currently boasts +150M users.

The BitTorrent protocol has been used for decades to securely move large files over the internet. It has become a global standard that is used by governments, businesses, and millions of people daily. Recently, the network launched an ICO and the BTT utility token.

BitTorrent partnered with the TRON blockchain to integrate the token and blockchain capabilities into their business model. The Tron blockchain enabled BitTorrent to lower storage, distribution, retrieval, and security costs. These savings account for billions when you consider that Bittorent accounts for 2.91% of all total online application traffic currently, according to recent reports.

The introduction of BTT and the marketplace provides a  lot of opportunities to its users. Users can now pay with the token to secure more storage transparently and instantly. Additionally, the token serves as a reward for those seeking to offer their storage to the community. Lastly, BTT can be staked, which adds to its overall usability.

10. Internet Computer Protocol

The Internet Computer Protocol leverages the computational power of its community to offer high-performance data storage and retrieval for Dapp developers and users alike. The network's development team, the DFINITY foundation, wanted to create a low-cost alternative to competitors like Amazon AWS. As such, the Internet Computer Protocol acts as an open-source alternative that offers P2P data storage and sharing services.

The Internet Computer Protocol was designed from day one to help improve onboarding and lower creation times for developers. Anyone can create Dapps on ICP using its easy-to-navigate interface. It's optimized for deploying smart contracts, Dapps, and other web3 applications. Notably, the network leverages independent data centers as part of its distribution strategy.

As part of this approach, the Internet Computer Protocol uses Chain Key cryptography to keep your information away from prying eyes. This system improves security by enabling all nodes to authenticate each piece of data and cross-reference it with other entries. These systems are used in tandem with the Network Nervous System And Internet Identity mechanisms to create some of the best security in the market.

Blockchain Storage – Competition Heats Up

The blockchain storage market continues to expand as more companies secure savings versus centralized competitors. This competition has helped fuel more innovation in the market. As such, users have more options than ever when it comes to storing and accessing virtual data.

You can learn more about exciting blockchain projects here.