FileStar

FileStar aspires to become the Web3.0 Internet infrastructure, build a distributed storage,

computation, and bandwidth network based on IPFS, integrate the global Internet infrastructure

resources, and realize optimal use of resources. Our vision is fundamentally different from the

storage-centric Filecoin.

The Main Difference from Filecoin

FileStar has a more reasonable incentive mechanism for distributed storage. It will gradually

evolve from that to be an incentive layer for the distributed Internet, enabling incentive at a more

refined granular level and facilitating an optimized utilization of computation, storage, and

bandwidth resources.

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The main advantages of FileStar are:

• Lower mining requirement: no Pledge Collateral in the early stage of the network; no

SHA256 algorithm and therefore no longer dependent on AMD processor exclusively,

hence more miners can join the network;

• Higher scalability: FileStar modifies the WindowPoST's spot check logic and introduces

recursive storage proof to improve the on-chain processing capability and TPS;

• High-efficiency mining software: FileStar improves the performance of existing Filecoin

mining software and improves the overall sealing efficiency of the network;

• High data availability: FileStar can store “hot data” and “warm data,” and users can

quickly access the stored data.

• Decentralized governance: FileStar adopts community governance. Developers, miners,

and other participants in the community will jointly determine the direction of the

network;

• Reasonable token distribution: FileStar will do a fair launch, with no pre-mining, no

fundraising. Most of the tokens will be distributed through mining and as long-term

incentives to all participants;

• FileStar will map rewards for the valid storage on Filecoin. FileStar will incentivize

Filecoin miners to maintain the FileStar Network jointly.

FireStar Technical Improvements and

Innovations

As the first step of a distributed Internet incentive network based on the IPFS protocol, FileStar

has several technical improvements and innovations.

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No Pledge Collateral

In Filecoin, Pledge Collateral means that the miners must lock FIL for each sector till the end of

the sector’s life cycle. It is a security mechanism to encourage miners to store data for a long

time and ensure data availability.

However, the design of the Pledge Collateral in the current Filecoin network is not reasonable.

First, the Pledge Collateral per sector is not a small amount. When the Filecoin network grows,

miners are not likely to have a positive cash flow for a long time because of the Pledge Collateral

and unable to sustain. Second, most of the sealed sectors are “junk sectors,” meaning order

sectors that do not have valid data. It does not make any sense to lock Pledge Collateral to ensure

the availability of the junk data. Pledge Collateral is the main reason that miners went on a strike.

In addition to Pledge Collateral, the Filecoin network also locks the mining reward. All mining

rewards will be vested gradually through 180 days under the premise that the data is

continuously stored. Locked mining rewards alone can ensure data security and availability.

Therefore, FileStar will remove Filecoin’s Pledge Collateral and keep the mining reward vesting

mechanism. FileStar will also make the following improvements to the collateral rules to further

ensure safety.

• First, FileStar will allow “junk sectors” to have a shorter life cycle. The junk sector’s

primary purpose is to prove a corresponding valid storage space available in the network.

The life cycle of any sector in the Filecoin network is at least one year. But in fact,

storing junk data for an extended time is a waste of resources. In the FileStar network, the

junk sector that does not store any valid data will have a shorter life cycle to avoid waste

of resources;

• Secondly, FileStar's order sectors will require collaterals. The order sector stores valid

data from the users. Using the users’ storage fees as collateral encourages the miners to

prioritize order sectors and ensure data availability.

By removing the Pledge Collateral, FileStar encourages the miners to join the network at any

time and gives miners a long-term incentive to maintain the network.

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New Hash Algorithm

Filecoin uses the SHA256 hash algorithm, which relies heavily on the optimization of the

instruction set of the AMD processor and excludes a large volume of Intel processors that do not

support instruction optimization. The limited hardware compatibility excludes a large amount of

Intel miners and restricts the Filecoin network’s growth.

FileStar aspires to become the incentive layer of the future Internet infrastructures, and

encourages more diverse hardware into the network. Therefore, while ensuring security, FileStar

must make sure that X86 based miners have the same performance. FileStar is testing different

hash algorithms, including SHA512, Poseidon, Pederson, and Blake2s. FileStar will evaluate

these hash algorithms’ security and feasibility on various platforms and choose the most suitable

one to support Intel mining machines or other high-performance mining machines.

Recursive ZK-SNARK

Proof of Copy (PoRep) is an essential part of the Filecoin storage proof system. Combined with

zero-knowledge proof, PoRep can quantify storage resources and generate corresponding proofs

on-chain. In Filecoin’s PoRep proof mechanism, when the miner seals one sector, they need to

submit two proofs to the network, and the corresponding messages are PreCommitSector and

ProveCommitSector. In the existing Filecoin network, most of the on-chain messages are the

submission of these two proofs. However, the on-chain message processing capability (TPS) of

the Filecoin network is minimal. When the network becomes congested, the proof messages will

occupy most on-chain resources, and ordinary messages will not be packaged. This also leads to

the “self-mining” behavior of many miners, meaning miners only process its own messages, and

the proof messages of small miners cannot be put on-chain.

FileStar proposes a Recursive ZK-SNARK technology to solve the above-mentioned TPS

bottleneck problem.

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The basic concept of Recursive ZK-SNARK is that the proof of multiple sectors produced within

a certain period will be verified off-chain, forming a Merkle tree and generating an aggregate

proof. At the end of that period, only one proof needs to be submitted to the network, containing

proof of multiple sectors. It significantly reduces the amount of the proof message that each

miner needs to submit. The Recursive ZK-SNARK improves TPS and achieves network scaling.

By adjusting the number of aggregated proofs, it will adapt the network’s processing capability

to meet the needs of different development stages of the FileStar network in the future.

WindowPoST + VRF

After completing the PoRep, the miners need to provide the Proof of SpaceTime(PoST) to prove

that the data has been continuously stored. The miner will get penalized when he fails to submit

Proofs-of-Spacetime to the chain. Large miners need to submit a massive number of PoST. As

the network grows, the number of WindoePoST submissions will also increase, which will lead

to network congestion and affects normal message processing.

FileStar introduces a random checkup for WindowPoST, lowering the WindowPoST submission

frequency. If the miner can predict the time of checkup, they can potentially cheat and hamper

network security. Therefore, FileStar uses the Verifiable Random Function to avoid such acts.

High-performance Mining Software

FileStar will also optimize the existing open-source mining software, fully improve the mining

efficiency. The optimization mainly focuses on the task scheduling module and the zeroknowledge proof module.

• Task scheduling optimization: all things being equal, different task scheduling strategies

will directly affect the mining machine’s sealing efficiency. The mining software of

Filecoin has many flaws in task scheduling, which has affected the network storage

growth. FileStar will release mining software with optimized task scheduling to increase

the mining efficiency of the miner.

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• Zero-knowledge proof optimization: both the PoRep and PoST in Filecoin uses zeroknowledge proof. There is a large room for optimization in the creation process of zeroknowledge proof. FileStar will optimize the zero-knowledge proof and offer it for all

miners.

In general, FileStar will have a much high mining efficiency than Filecoin, meaning that with the

same hardware input, FileStar will likely be a larger distributed storage network.

Filecoin Storage Mapping

The Filecoin network has nearly 600 PiB of valid storage, and it is still growing. Filecoin miners

are the pioneers in building the decentralized storage infrastructure. They will also be a

cornerstone of the Web3.0 infrastructure. After launch, FileStar will map rewards for storage on

the Filecoin network. If Filecoin miners join FileStar mining, they will have the chance to

receive FileStar rewards proportionate to their storage power on Filecoin. The specific mapping

rules will be announced when the FileStar mainnet is launched.

Decentralized Governance

The FileStar development team is responsible for maintaining the FileStar project. The

community will determine future development and governance.

In the FileStar community, anyone can submit a pool request with a complete test code. All

submissions will be merged into the test network after a thorough test and launched on the

mainnet after stable running for some time.

The FileStar project fully respects the opinions of all community participants. The development

and launch of each new feature require community members to vote on. FileStar developers,

miners, and average token holders can participate in the vote and jointly determine the network’s

direction.

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Token Economic Model

The FileStar protocol native token is STAR, used to pay for gas and storage. Miners get STAR

mining rewards and gas rewards. To attract miners to contribute to the storage, computing, and

bandwidth and encourages the participation of more dynamic participants, FileStar has designed

a more refined token incentive model.

The total supply of STAR tokens is 2,000,000,000 STAR, with no fundraising and no premining. The token distribution is as follows, which may subject to fine-tuning at the mainnet

launch:

• 70% to FileStar miners, the output decreases daily and halves every six years

o 30% to storage miners

o 15% to computation miners

o 15% to bandwidth miners

o 10% to other valuable miners, such as zero-knowledge proof services, AI, big

data, which will be decided by the community

• 30% to long-term community participants

o 15% to the FileStar Foundation, 5-year vesting from one year after mainnet

launch;

o 7% to community developers

o 5% to projects and apps in the FileStar ecosystem;

o 1% to media & community

o 1% to exchanges and wallets that support FileStar

o 1% to legal and compliance

Summary

Based on Filecoin, FileStar implements a better incentive layer for distributed storage network,

with improvements such as the removal of Initial Pledge Collateral and the use of new hash

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functions, which have collectively lowered the threshold for mining. FileStar also adds Recursive

ZK-SNARK, PoST+VRF, and other technological innovations to solve the TPS and on-chain

message congestion, with much-improved scalability and mining efficiency.

FileStar will have a fair token launch and adopt community governance. It will be equal and

long-termly sustainable.

FileStar aspires to build a network of distributed storage, computing, and bandwidth based on the

IPFS protocol, becoming a significant cornerstone of the Web3.0 infrastructure. Unlike storagecentric Filecoin, FileStar will incentivize participants to provide verifiable computation and

measurable bandwidth resources in addition to distributed storage. With the blockchain

industry’s collective endeavor and the dedication of the FileStar team, we will soon see the

distributed Internet unfold.