In December, we shared an initial set of guidelines for storage mining on Testnet Phase 1. The project has since matured significantly, and we continue to build on the lessons learned through testing. We’ve now progressed to Testnet Phase 2, and are excited to relate the latest updates, opportunities, and guidelines for Filecoin storage miners.

Today we’re excited to announce ProtoSchool’s first-ever Filecoin tutorial, Verifying Storage on Filecoin. It offers a beginner-friendly, code-free look at Filecoin’s proof system, exploring how the protocol implements decentralized storage with a combination of consensus mechanisms and cryptographic proofs that that allow clients to trust that miners are storing their data as agreed.

On June 25, 2020, the Filecoin team hosted an AMA with Juan Benet. Over the course of an hour, we answered 41 questions, covering topics like testnet incentives, the most recent roadmap update, and the path to mainnet launch. During the session we were joined by 968 Filecoin community members from across the globe. Many thanks to all who participated!

It’s very exciting to see the growth of interest in the Filecoin Dev Grant program. For Wave 3 of Filecoin Dev Grants that were due in April, we received 44 proposals from the community. A list of Wave 4 RFPs have been published and are due July 1st at 23:59 PDT for priority consideration. We will evaluate later proposals as capacity allows.

The Filecoin marketplace runs effectively because of the confidence clients can have that storage miners on the network are properly storing their data. This confidence comes from Filecoin’s own unique proof system for ensuring storage on the Filecoin network works as contracted.

Our June 2020 roadmap update covers progress made since the last roadmap update and a peek into what’s next for the Filecoin project as we enter the homestretch to the mainnet launch.

The Filecoin team hosted our very first Filecoin virtual community meetup! Thank you to all who attended and made it such a success. Our community meetups are an opportunity to meet the people behind the many tools and projects being built in the Filecoin ecosystem.

Filecoin is getting closer to mainnet launch, and the ecosystem is moving at blazing speed. Filecoin Miners are building out infrastructure at small, medium and large scales. The testnet just passed 9 PiB. Developers are making apps, dapps, dev tools, and more. There are thousands of people building around Filecoin, but so far they have been doing it mostly by themselves. It is time to get together and cross-pollinate.

Filecoin is excited to be a challenge partner in the Spark University Hackathon, an 8 week online competition bringing together developers from universities around the world, to learn, build, and launch new applications and storage solutions on the Filecoin network.

At the end of last year, we successfully completed the first phase of our trusted setup also known as the “powers of tau” ceremony. Since the end of the year, our team has been preparing for Phase 2 of our trusted setup. To learn more about Phase 2 and how you can help contribute, read on! If you haven’t signed up previously and would like to participate, please fill out this form!