Storj

What is Storj (STORJ)?

Storj is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network that offers fast, secure cloud storage and data sharing at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional alternatives.

Deploying zero-trust security and utilizing blockchain technology for resilient cloud object storage, the project’s name itself encapsulates its mission by being pronounced: “storage.”

One of the key features of the Storj network is its use of a distributed architecture, which allows the storage of data on multiple devices rather than in a centralized location. Each of these devices, or nodes, is responsible for storing a portion of the data and cooperating with other nodes to ensure the integrity and availability of the data.

STORJ is also one of the early breeds of cryptocurrencies, announced in a whitepaper in 2014 before being offered in an initial coin offering in 2017. The project then went live in late 2018.

Who are the Founders of Storj?

Storj was founded by Atlanta-based software developer Shawn Wilkinson in partnership with blockchain enthusiast and former investment banker John Quinn.

Following the publication of the Storj whitepaper in 2014, Wilkinson and Quinn incorporated Storj Labs Inc. in May 2015 to drive the project’s development. Wilkinson was the firm’s CEO, to begin with, but stepped down into the position of Chief Strategy Officer later on. Quinn, meanwhile, took up the role of Chief Revenue Officer.

Currently, Ben Golub serves as CEO of Storj Labs, supported by CTO Jacob Willoughby and COO John Gleeson. Co-founder John Quinn’s previous role as CRO was taken by Mark Glasgow, but Wilkinson retains his position. The company has over 70 employees working remotely from over 20 countries.

How Does Storj Work?

Storage is Storj’s game, and it attempts to simplify the complexities of decentralization while offering a new standard in security, performance, and pricing.

The process behind Storj begins with encryption, with objects to be stored on the network being automatically encrypted using AES-256-GCM encryption. This encryption ensures that the data would still be secure and unreadable even if a node on the network were to be compromised.

Following encryption, the data is split into pieces that can’t be distinguished from similar pieces from other objects. These indistinguishable pieces are then individually distributed to uncorrelated nodes around the world. Currently, Storj has over 16,000 active nodes storing encrypted data.

These nodes are automatically selected according to reputation and local latency. Storj’s protocol selects reputable nodes at random, weighted by network diversity, and then uploads to a larger set of those selected nodes. The fastest nodes from this set are chosen to store files.

The final step is retrieval. With Storj, only 29 of an object’s pieces are needed to reconstitute that data for download, although the data was originally split into 80 pieces. This means that the Storj network can remain resilient even if several nodes go offline. If this happens, the network automatically repairs each piece and recreates it on a healthy node, ensuring that data is never lost.

What makes Storj Unique?

Storj is very much a user-focused service, and unlike traditional storage alternatives, the data owner has all of the power over how it is managed. But, thanks to the combination of encryption and decentralized storage, even Storj Labs can’t access user data even if they wanted to.

A file on Storj can’t be accessed without keys or permissions, and only the owner of the data has the relevant permissions. Beyond this, Storj also removes trust from the equation by using Reed-Solomon erasure coding.

How is the Storj Network Secured?

If someone wants to access the data owned by another person, they would need to locate each node and identify the correct file pieces from among thousands of others. They would have to repeat this process 29 times, in fact, and then break one of the world’s most secure encryption standards, AES-256-GCM.

Node operators are also rewarded using the STORJ token for hosting data and confirming the safety and retention of hosted files. This gives them plenty of incentive to behave according to the protocol.

The STORJ token itself is deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is secured by a proof-of-stake consensus, where the operators of validator nodes have to bond 32 ETH or more to the protocol to start producing blocks. They earn rewards for this, proportional to how much they stake. However, poor performance can lead to slashing, where their stake is confiscated.

Thanks to this system of incentives, Ethereum is one of the most secure blockchains in the industry. It is also exceedingly decentralized, counting over 500,000 validators as of January 2023.

What is the Use of STORJ?

The Ethereum-based STORJ token is used as a means of payment on the network. Users who want to store data with Storj need to pay for it using the token. Users who provide their storage space to the network are compensated using STORJ as well.

How Much STORJ is In Circulation?

The STORJ token has a total supply of 425 million, with over 412 million in circulation. Initially, the team had minted 500 million STORJ but decided to burn 75 million following the 2017 ICO.

The ICO itself saw 70 million STORJ tokens sold off, raising around $30 million. As is common, a seed funding round was held shortly before this ICO, netting $3 million for the project.

In 2014, Storj also carried out a public crowd sale for early research and development. They were able to raise 910 BTC, worth around $460,000 at the time.

How Do You Buy STORJ?

Storj is a project that has been around for a while, so its token is quite easy to acquire. STORJ is listed on several top centralized exchange platforms and is also available on Ethereum-based DEXs (decentralized exchanges) like Uniswap.

How Do You Store STORJ?

As an Ethereum-based token, it’s very easy to store STORJ. Almost any Ethereum-compatible wallet can be used to do so, including Metamask and Ledger. It’s also possible to use multi-asset wallets like Trust Wallet and SafePal to store STORJ.

Is STORJ a Good Investment?

Storj is one of several blockchain projects targeting cloud storage and aiming to decentralize and democratize the industry. The perceived battle between these projects is often referred to as the ‘Decentralized Storage War,’ but it’s useful to look at the far bigger picture.

Storj and its so-called competitors aren’t really in competition with each other. Instead, they’re taking on the Goliaths of traditional cloud storage, which have entrenched positions and monopolistic dominance of the market.

This fight to move from centralized to decentralized storage may be crucial for the entire future of blockchain, since many crypto projects use these traditional, centralized providers for servers and hosting.

In this context, Storj and its cohorts face a tall order. Given the cutting-edge service, unparalleled security, and vastly reduced pricing they can offer with this blockchain-based model, though, the future may yet be decentralized.