A decentralized web is one step closer to becoming a reality now that Brave has integrated the IPFS point-to-point hypermedia protocol into its browser.
In recent months, the company has been working with Protocol Labs to add support for the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to its browser.
IPFS offers a number of advantages over the dominant HTTP standard, including lower bandwidth costs, decentralization and data integrity, access to censored content and increased performance. By integrating the new protocol into your browser, Brave users will also be able to access previously viewed content, even when they are offline.
Brave CTO and co-founder Brian Bondy explained in a press release why the native integration of IPFS into your browser will be important for content creators:
“We are excited to be the first browser to offer native IPFS integration with today’s Brave desktop browser launch. By providing Brave’s more than 1 million verified content creators with the power to serve content seamlessly to millions of new users around the world through a new, secure protocol, IPFS offers users a solution to the centralized server problem , creating a central point of failure for access to content. IPFS’s innovative content addressing uses Content Identifiers (CIDs) to form an address based on the content itself rather than finding data based on a server’s address. The integration of the open source IPFS network is an important milestone in making the Web more transparent, decentralized and resilient. ”
IPFS in Brave
With the release of version 1.19 of your desktop browser, Brave’s 24 million monthly active users will now be able to access content directly from IPFS.
This can be done using a gateway or installing a complete IPFS node with one click. However, when installing a complete node, Brave users can upload content over the P2P IPFS network hosted on their own node.
When IPFS is configured to use a local node, the protocol preserves the schema (ipfs or ipns) in the address bar and you can always trust the local node to check the content of the content identifiers (CIDs) being accessed. At the same time, a local node also helps to contribute to the strength of the IPFS network.
Using a third-party gateway is another way to access content directly from IPFS. This option is preferable for users who do not wish to load an IPFS node on their local computer.
Although Brave added IPFS integration to its desktop browser, the company is actively working to support its mobile browsers, as well as Android support planned first.