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IPFS

A peer-to-peer protocol that addresses files by their content, used to host decentralized web data.

FBFenwei BianAuthorVZVictor ZhouEditorJune 22, 2026
  • glossary

IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) is a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol that identifies files by their content hash — a Content Identifier (CID) — rather than by server location. If two nodes hold the same file, they produce the same CID, so the network can retrieve it from whoever is nearest. This content-addressing model is the opposite of HTTP, where a URL points to a specific server that may go offline. In web3 applications, IPFS is a standard off-chain data layer: NFT metadata, artwork, and documents are stored on IPFS so they are not permanently pinned to the expensive blockchain — instead the on-chain record holds the immutable CID. For tokenized domains, IPFS can host a decentralized website that resolves when someone has an IPFS-capable gateway or browser extension, entirely bypassing conventional DNS servers.

Related keywords

  • content addressing
  • peer-to-peer
  • decentralized storage
  • CID
  • IPFS
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Contributors

Fenwei Bian

Software Developer & Writer • Namefi
Author

Fenwei Bian is a software developer in her thirties who spends her working hours in pull requests and her weekends with her hands in soil or sawdust. Years of open source on GitHub taught her that names are interfaces: a good one is clear, honest about what it does, and kind to whoever has to use it next.

She gardens because it rewards patience and punishes wishful thinking, and she does woodwork because a joint either fits or it doesn't. Both habits show up in how she writes about naming — measure twice, check the source, and don't sand over a rough spot and hope no one notices.

For Namefi she writes about how domain markets actually move, the practical trade-offs of tokenizing and flipping names, and picking a domain you'll still be glad you own in twenty years.

GitHub

Victor Zhou

Founder & Standards Editor • Namefi
Editor

Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.

His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.

For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.

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