Filecoin Founder: Confident in Mainnet Launch in July, Advises Against Mass Purchase of Mining Machines at Present

Filecoin founder Juan Benet shared information about the Filecoin testnet, roadmap, and future plans, addressing concerns from miners.

Original Title: "25 Questions with Filecoin Founder Juan" Written by: ChainNews

IPFS/Filecoin team founder Juan held an online Q&A session on the Slack platform, addressing many questions of concern to Filecoin miners. In this Q&A session, Juan tackled issues surrounding the Filecoin test network, roadmap, and future plans, providing valuable insights for Filecoin miners. Worth checking out!
Here is the full translation of the Q&A:

Juan: Thank you all for participating in today's Q&A. We are making significant progress towards the interoperable network, the second phase of the test network, and the launch of the main network! I am excited to interact with everyone and address questions related to the Filecoin network, roadmap, and any upcoming plans.

1. The launch of the Filecoin mainnet has been delayed several times. What is the likelihood of it launching on time in July?

Juan: Currently, we have the best estimate of our progress on the public Gantt chart.

Currently, we are very confident in this timeline and do not foresee any further delays. Our team is working around the clock to launch the mainnet within that timeframe. As we enter the second phase of the test network and start the countdown to the mainnet launch, we will gain more confidence.
We all want Filecoin to launch more than anyone else. The delays have been disappointing for everyone, especially us. But the key requirement for the mainnet launch is for Filecoin to be secure and functioning well. Everyone is counting on us to achieve this.

2. Is having a GPU a necessary requirement for participating in the Filecoin network in the future?

Juan: Good question! First, let's clarify for other readers: Filecoin mining is not GPU mining for proof of work.

As mentioned earlier, Filecoin mining is based on storage capacity consensus. The more client data a Filecoin miner stores, the larger their storage capacity. As miners increase their storage power ratio in the network, it means they are more likely to generate blocks and win block rewards.

Miners need GPUs to compute SNARK in Filecoin proofs. GPUs are faster and cheaper for certain computations than CPUs. Currently, we have found that this solution (GPU) best meets our strict standards for protocol performance and security.

To put it more simply:
* In the long run: If we stop using SNARK, then miners won't need GPUs, but in the short term, we won't do that.
* In the short term: We want to ensure that both large and small miners can access the Filecoin network. We are exploring solutions that could outsource SNARK generation to third-party service providers (not the protocol lab). We hope many third-party services will emerge to provide SNARK computation and acceleration.

3. Are there rewards for the second phase of the public test? What is the reward scheme?

Juan: Hello, there are currently no reward schemes. If there are any, we will announce them in advance and set aside preparation time.

4. Many people have recently had trouble syncing to the test network. What issues have arisen with the test network?

Juan: Simply put, it's because this is the test network! Some issues are expected, and we cannot expect it to be as stable as the mainnet. We plan to make some changes in terms of synchronicity, but our focus now is on achieving interoperability.

5. When will the wallets be ready? Is the Filecoin team developing them internally or collaborating with other teams?

Juan: When Filecoin goes live, we will have several wallets going live simultaneously. Currently, one team is developing the Ledger wallet, and another is developing a software wallet that will be integrated into a wallet similar to Trustwallet.

6. Filecoin places great emphasis on network stability and security. What conditions need to be met for the launch of the Filecoin mainnet?

Juan: You can follow the project progress and mainnet launch process through this Gantt chart, which we will regularly update as we refine the development schedule.

7. Hi, why are you considering adding support for the go-Filecoin client implementation? Can you explain some advantages and disadvantages of go-Filecoin and Lotus? As a miner, how do I determine which client to choose?

Juan: We need multiple Filecoin backup networks for a more secure and flexible network. This is why we are developing Lotus, Go-Filecoin, and collaborating with ChainSafe and Soramitsu to produce Forest and Fuhon. In blockchain networks, it is not uncommon for projects to develop multiple backup networks, just like Ethereum has multiple backup networks.

8. How should miners choose which client to use?

Juan: You can try them out and see which one suits you best. Lotus may have more features at the beginning, and over time, different backup networks will be tailored to different use cases. Large miners may also develop their own versions. We hope this is a good business for some software developers (not PL).

9. Lotus network often fails to connect or is very unstable, especially in China. Is there a solution?

Juan: We don't have a specific solution... The best you can do is probably choose a better VPN:)

10. Currently, PoRep (Proof of Replication) has added PoR in PoS, which imposes a 2N space requirement on verifying nodes and does not meet the standard of "not expanding space" commitment. This seems to be a weakness compared to traditional storage solutions. Are there any plans for time limits or multi-party computation in the project?

Juan: We did not separate PoR and PoS proofs; we combined these two proofs into a single valid space proof, which we call Proof of Replication. Miners perform sealing, transforming raw data into sealed sectors. The size of sealed sectors remains N. Miners can extract data from the replica by performing the unsealing process.

If a miner has a very popular file and does not want to unseal or provide faster retrieval speeds, they can keep additional unsealed replicas. We have some candidate structures not based on the delay model, but we are still evaluating them and will propose a fork with a new structure after the research is complete.

The cost model is one direction that is different from the delay model. Intuitively, storing data is cheaper when doing regeneration attacks.

11. According to the project roadmap, interoperability testing is scheduled to begin next week. Will the test network be reset next week?

Juan: Our current plan is to keep the existing test network as is, while the interoperable network will be frequently reset and unstable for the next 2 weeks.

12. Is it possible to mine FIL using a home computer, or is this a possibility in the future?

Juan: I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly. If you are asking whether a general home computer can produce blocks on the Filecoin test network or mainnet, the answer is no.

13. When can we see the details of the collateral mechanism in Filecoin? Under what circumstances can miners reclaim collateral?

Juan: We will announce Filecoin's encrypted economic mechanisms around April after finalizing all mechanisms, and miners can reclaim collateral after fulfilling their commitments.

14. If the stored content violates local laws, will there be arbitration?

Juan: The Filecoin protocol is content-neutral, just like TCP/IP. The network itself cannot distinguish between different types of content. It is impossible to define a set of rules that apply to all users. Instead, we believe that by empowering individuals with choice, people will be more inclined to comply with local laws or adhere to their preferences.

Miners can choose to reject any storage or retrieval requests. We are working on developing tools to make it easy for people to share and collaborate on lists of content they do not like to serve.

15. Is Filecoin mining power-consuming? What are the requirements?

Juan: Computers consume a lot of power! However, overall, the power consumption for Filecoin mining operations is mainly for providing storage. This is different from pure PoW mining coins. In Filecoin mining, most of the energy is used to provide useful real-world services and ensure the security of the blockchain network.

16. If Filecoin Protocol Lab could collaborate with any company, foundation, or community, who would you choose to work with?

Juan: We aim to collaborate with as many teams as possible, with most of our collaborations focusing on open-source development. We have also engaged in numerous collaborations through grants, grant programs, or joint funding, as with our collaborations with Ethereum, W3F, and other teams. We prefer to work with teams that align with our goals.

17. Based on the current progress, it seems that the second phase of the test network can be on time?

Juan: Yes, we are quite confident about the launch of the second phase of the test network. However, software is software, and unexpected events can occur. But as of today, we are more certain about this timeframe.

18. When will hardware requirements be introduced? Currently, the hardware requirements for testing are getting higher. Does this deviate from the initial concept, and will the requirements for hardware be reduced in the future?

Juan: Filecoin will continue to evolve over time, including proof mechanisms. The current settings and parameters are suitable for the test network, but we will soon introduce settings that are more secure for the mainnet.

Over time, contributors may find that Filecoin makes changes that are more secure, efficient, or scalable for the network. The core goal of the network— incentivizing the storage and retrieval of files—will not change.

The goal of Filecoin is for storage costs to exceed computational costs in mining operations. We are improving performance, and based on this fundamental principle, we may change the proof mechanisms in the future.

In the next phase, we will introduce a new secure proof mechanism that differs in the trade-off from the current proof mechanism and is still being optimized.

A final important note: before we announce the final mainnet proof mechanism, refrain from mass purchasing mining hardware.

19. Can you explain the bridge between resolving IPFS to Filecoin?

Juan: The data on Filecoin is in the form of IPLD graphs (including unixfs, etc.), so Filecoin can store all IPFS data. Think of Lotus and other Filecoin backup networks. We not only aim for interoperability with Go-ipfs, and currently, we are working on a few things:

* Connection. All IPFS nodes (including Filecoin nodes) are libp2p nodes, allowing them to connect to each other. To ensure security, nodes have not yet joined the public IPFS dht.
* Bitswap interoperability. All nodes can exchange bitswap data.
* Image synchronization, which is the next-generation transfer. We attach great importance to this and will add it to the Filecoin backup network, but go-ipfs will soon achieve this.
* Automatic file import and export.
* We are enabling nodes like go-ipfs and js-ipfs to store and retrieve data from Filecoin nodes.

20. What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Filecoin project? How much impact will it have on the mainnet launch?

Juan: Good question. We are not entirely sure yet. The current plan is to continue working during the pandemic, and we do not foresee any impact at the moment. However, the pandemic could worsen, leading to a greater impact on our development team or community miners. We will adjust based on the specific circumstances.

Stay safe, everyone, and don't get sick! Once the mainnet is launched, we won't have many actions—network development will be based on participant activities. Hopefully, this pandemic will be alleviated soon, so stay safe.

21. Will Filecoin face compliance issues like the Telegram TON project?

Juan: The Filecoin project has invested a lot of resources in achieving compliance. Our legal and policy team has been monitoring regulatory changes and working closely with the product and engineering teams to ensure timely updates on compliance aspects of the project.

22. In the mainnet stage, are miner and user needs matched on-chain or through off-chain transactions and matching?

Juan: Transactions are matched off-chain, and market participants can upload transaction information to the chain after a trade is completed.

23. Since transactions are matched off-chain, does this mean miners can feed data to themselves? Is there a possibility of addressing this issue in the future?

Juan: Miners will decide what is the most rational course of action. When there are no users storing information in the market, miners should contribute their storage space to the protocol. When users need to store information, miners should engage in storage transactions with users. Different scenarios will have different cost and reward mechanisms.

24. Is bandwidth important?

Juan: Not particularly important.

25. Will Filecoin prevent the emergence of super miners? For example, miners with a single account occupying over 30% of the total network hash rate?

Juan: We cannot control the emergence of super miners.

This article is reprinted with permission from ChainNews, source: ChainNews (ID: chainnewscom)

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