IPFS: What It Is and How It Powers Decentralized Crypto Projects

When you hear IPFS, a peer-to-peer protocol for storing and sharing files in a distributed network. Also known as InterPlanetary File System, it’s what lets crypto projects keep data alive even if a company shuts down. Unlike regular websites that rely on centralized servers, IPFS stores files across thousands of computers worldwide. If one node goes offline, the file still exists elsewhere—no single point of failure. That’s why you’ll see IPFS links in crypto airdrops, NFT marketplaces, and DeFi apps: it’s the only way to make sure your digital assets don’t vanish when a startup disappears.

IPFS doesn’t store data the way Google Drive or Dropbox does. Instead, it gives each file a unique cryptographic hash—like a digital fingerprint. That hash becomes the address. So if you upload a video to IPFS, you don’t get a URL like example.com/video.mp4. You get something like /ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco. It’s not human-friendly, but it’s tamper-proof. Change one pixel in the video? The hash changes. Someone tries to swap your NFT image with a fake? The hash won’t match. This is why projects like Filecoin, a blockchain-based storage network built on top of IPFS that pays users to host data exist. Filecoin turns IPFS into a marketplace: you get paid in FIL tokens to store files, and users pay to keep their data permanently archived. It’s not just storage—it’s an incentive layer.

IPFS also connects directly to how you interact with decentralized exchanges and airdrops. When you swap tokens on PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange built on Binance Smart Chain, the token metadata—like the logo, name, and description—is often stored on IPFS. If that link breaks, your wallet shows a broken image. Same with airdrops: if a project claims to give you free tokens, but the token’s website or whitepaper is hosted on a regular server, it’s probably a scam. Legit projects use IPFS to prove their data hasn’t been altered. Even when a project like Apertum, a Layer 1 blockchain on Avalanche with community governance releases its roadmap or audit reports, they’re pinned to IPFS so no one can quietly change the terms later.

That’s why every post in this collection ties back to IPFS in some way—even if it’s not named outright. When you read about fake airdrops, unregulated exchanges, or ghost tokens, you’re really reading about what happens when data isn’t anchored to something permanent. IPFS is the invisible glue holding Web3 together. Without it, crypto would be full of broken links and disappearing promises. With it, you can verify what’s real, even if the company behind it is gone. What follows are real-world examples of how IPFS enables trust in a world full of hype—and how to spot when it’s being ignored.