# IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1407.3561 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1407.3561/

## Key facts

- Cited by 70 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 14 Jul 2014.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 70)

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- [Decentral and Incentivized Federated Learning Frameworks: A Systematic Literature Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.07855/) (2022)
- [Secure and Efficient Federated Learning Through Layering and Sharding Blockchain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.13130/) (2021)
- [Upgrade or Switch: Do We Need a Next-Gen Trusted Architecture for the Internet of AI Agents?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.12003/) (2025)
- [DECORAIT -- DECentralized Opt-in/out Registry for AI Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.14400/) (2023)
- [Blockchain and Federated Edge Learning for Privacy-Preserving Mobile Crowdsensing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.08671/) (2021)
- [Efficient Ring-topology Decentralized Federated Learning with Deep Generative Models for Industrial Artificial Intelligent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08100/) (2021)
- [Survey on the Convergence of Machine Learning and Blockchain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.00976/) (2022)
- [Proof-of-Learning with Incentive Security](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.09005/) (2024)
- [VerifBFL: Leveraging zk-SNARKs for A Verifiable Blockchained Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.04319/) (2025)
- [Decentralizing AI Memory: SHIMI, a Semantic Hierarchical Memory Index for Scalable Agent Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.06135/) (2025)
- [Blockchain-Empowered Trustworthy Data Sharing: Fundamentals, Applications, and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.06546/) (2023)
- [An Overview of AI and Blockchain Integration for Privacy-Preserving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.03928/) (2023)
- [Towards Open Federated Learning Platforms: Survey and Vision from Technical and Legal Perspectives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.02140/) (2023)
- [AutoDFL: A Scalable and Automated Reputation-Aware Decentralized Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.04331/) (2025)
- [DAO-Agent: Zero Knowledge-Verified Incentives for Decentralized Multi-Agent Coordination](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.20973/) (2025)
- [SoK: Cross-border Criminal Investigations and Digital Evidence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.12911/) (2022)
- [Securing Health Data on the Blockchain: A Differential Privacy and Federated Learning Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.11580/) (2024)
- [Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence: Synergies and Conflicts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.13462/) (2024)
- [Decentralized Intelligence Network (DIN)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.02461/) (2024)
- [DIAP: A Decentralized Agent Identity Protocol with Zero-Knowledge Proofs and a Hybrid P2P Stack](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.11619/) (2025)
- [The Internet of Agentic AI: Communication, Coordination, and Collective Intelligence at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.12835/) (2026)
- [Kadabra: Adapting Kademlia for the Decentralized Web](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.12858/) (2022)
- [Blockchain and Biometrics: Survey, GDPR Analysis, and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.10883/) (2023)
- [Naeural AI OS -- Decentralized ubiquitous computing MLOps execution engine](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.08708/) (2023)
- [A Novel IoT Trust Model Leveraging Fully Distributed Behavioral Fingerprinting and Secure Delegation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.00953/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a peer-to-peer distributed file system that seeks to connect all computing devices with the same system of files. In some ways, IPFS is similar to the Web, but IPFS could be seen as a single BitTorrent swarm, exchanging objects within one Git repository. In other words, IPFS provides a high throughput content-addressed block storage model, with content-addressed hyper links. This forms a generalized Merkle DAG, a data structure upon which one can build versioned file systems, blockchains, and even a Permanent Web. IPFS combines a distributed hashtable, an incentivized block exchange, and a self-certifying namespace. IPFS has no single point of failure, and nodes do not need to trust each other.