Brave is first browser to have native IPFS integration. The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), is a decentralized peer-to-peer protocol created to make the web less centralized and to evade censorship. It has been merged into Brave, the desktop web browser Brave, making it the first browser to have a native IPFS integration.
According to a statement by the firm, IPFS allows Brave users to access content on the protocol by “resolving ipfs:// URIs via a gateway or installing a full IPFS node in one click,”
CTO and co-founder of Brave, Brian Bondy said “IPFS is important for blockchain and for self-described data integrity. Previously viewed content can even be accessed offline with IPFS. The IPFS network gives access to content even if it has been censored by corporations and nation-states, such as for example, parts of Wikipedia.”
Brave users who enable the IPFS node will have a network that will still be able to function during internet outages and shutdowns. Users will also be able to access critical information such as COVID-19 news censored in some countries. IPFS keeps what is browsed so it can be used while offline, which is key in places with expensive internet access or spotty networks.
“IPFS also provides the ability to share and collaborate in offline or disconnected environments – nodes can discover each other over local networks even when not connected to the internet,” said Dietrich Ayala, technical product manager of browser integrations at IPFS. “Easy and direct availability of IPFS through the Brave browser radically lowers the bar for developers to take advantage of these features in the applications.”
“IPFS, a peer-to-peer protocol, instead allows users to download webpages and content stored across multiple servers and provides “historical versioning” that shows how documents have been manipulated. “
With this new integration, Brave users will have easier access to the protocol, while also offloading server costs from the content publisher and improving the overall resilience of the internet. There are currently over 4,000 IPFS contributors worldwide; the Brave browser is used by 24 million people, potentially expanding the reach of IPFS.
“Brave users will be able to load ipfs:// and ipns:// URIs, which gives users the ability to load a lot of new content which they can’t access in other browsers,” said Bondy. “Dapps are ideal candidates to be hosted on IPFS, and some dapps make use of referencing IPFS content.”
[image: Brave]
