Filecoin Testnet to Launch in December — Mainnet in Q1 2020

Decentralized file hosting protocol Filecoin announced in a post published on its blog on Sept. 24, that its alphanet will be launched tomorrow, testnet on Dec. 11 and mainnet in Q1 2020.

“These windows are best estimates”

However, the Filecoin team acknowledges that  “these windows are best estimates, and could potentially slide.” 

Per the announcement, this year the project’s team open-sourced the Filecoin implementation written in Go, launched the first public development networks and put multiple implementations of the protocol in development.

The current focus of the team is reportedly refining the protocol design, finalizing cryptographic proof construction, launching long-running testnets and growing the project’s community. 

Furthermore, the team also promises that a link to a development roadmap will be published on Filecoin’s blog next month.

A competitive space

Filecoin is developed by Protocol Labs, the creators of the decentralized data storage solution InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), which will work as an incentive system for Filecoin. 

As Cointelegraph reported in September 2017, this is not the only attempt at creating a blockchain-based decentralized file storage solution.

Other examples include Storj (which launched its beta in April 2016), Sia (which released an integration with self-hosted productivity software Nextcloud) and Burstcoin.

Lastly, as Cointelegraph reported at the end of May, blockchain platform Tron, which is behind the decentralized, web-focused cryptocurrency Tron (TRX), announced plans to develop a BitTorrent-based version of IPFS.