IPFS or better known as "InterPlanetary File System" has integrated to the Brave Browser :)
Brave allows you to configure what happens when IPFS URIs are encountered. You can select between:
- Using a local node for resolution
- Using a gateway of your choice for resolution
- Disabling IPFS resolution
IPFS in Relation to BlockchainsIPFS and other decentralized protocols are important for blockchains and smart contracts that run in global decentralized networks, such as Ethereum.
What happens if you want to have a smart contract that addresses content? You wouldn’t want to use a URL because the location of the content could change or become unavailable, and the smart contract is immutable. You could use a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) though such as ones used to identify content in IPFS.
Storing content on Ethereum would be expensive, but storing a hash (CID) is feasible. The content of your data goes on the IPFS network, and the hash is stored in the smart contract. That hash can be used to access the content from any IPFS node.
Dapps can be served from IPFS as well and they can use web3 to talk to Ethereum. This enables users to have a fully decentralized browsing experience.
You can read more about the implementation of IPFS in Brave from its spec here: github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/10220
Future work is defined and managed here: github.com/brave/brave-browser/projects/32
