Bitstream White Paper Proposes Bitcoin Payments to Disrupt File Storage Economy
The Bitstream white paper,
authored by blockchain programmer Robin Linus, unveils a method where servers receive direct payments in bitcoin (BTC)
for each file download they facilitate. Addressing the imbalance in current hosting economics, Linus’ system aligns server profit with content demand.
The Bitstream system
capitalizes on Bitcoin’s payment channels, including technologies like the
Lightning Network, Liquid, Chaumian ecash, Fedimint, or Cashu to afford swift microtransactions for file access.
“The server encrypts the file such that if there’s any mismatch during decryption the client can derive a compact fraud proof,” the paper notes.
“A bond contract guarantees the client receives the exact file or they can punish the server.” After
Linus published the paper several people were enthusiastic while others were more critical.
The
Bitstream framework offers a variation to conventional data hosting methods, yet its practical application remains to be seen. The white paper’s proposal believes it has proposed an
“incentive system for decentralized file hosting without relying on trust or heavy-weight cryptography.”
