Brave browser brings the decentralised web one step closer through IPFS integration

Brave users can access content on IPFS via ipfs:// URLs

The latest version of Brave, the browser created by Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich, providesnative integration with the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS), a decentralised protocol that links machines in a decentralised peer-to-peer fashion.

IPFS is a distributed file system that links all connected devices with the same set of files, rather than having those files delivered by a web server. Chunks of data are stored across multiple nodes and are called up by their network address, rather than via the address of a web server. It was originally developed to allow academics to share large datasets.

IPFS is one of a number of efforts to 're-decentralise the web' by eliminating web servers and DNS, making it more resilient by eliminating single points of failure, more censorship resistant, less prone to DDoS attacks and potentially faster as data is stored closer to where it's needed.

The related cryptocurrency, Filecoin, raised $257 million for IPFS creator Protocol Labs when it went public in 2017, at the height of the last crypto boom.

Brave users can now access content on IPFS directly via the ipfs:// URL. On use, Brave detects the protocol and gives the user the choice of installing a node on the device to load content from IPFS if they have space, or via a gateway to which they connect over http://. Protocol Labs provides a graphic showing some content that is so far available.

It's still early days for the decentralised web, and there's limited content currently available, but in a blog post Brian Bondy, CTO and co-founder of Brave, described the move as "a milestone".

"We're thrilled to be the first browser to offer a native IPFS integration with today's Brave desktop browser release. Providing Brave's 1 million+ verified content creators with the power to seamlessly serve content to millions of new users across the globe via a new and secure protocol, IPFS gives users a solution to the problem of centralized servers creating a central point of failure for content access," he said.

Molly Mackinlay, project lead at IPFS, said: "Bringing the benefits of the dWeb to Brave users, IPFS' efforts to remove systemic data censorship by corporations and nation-states are now strengthened through the integration with Brave."

The move is not entirely new. Firefox has allowed access to IPFS addresses via a plugin since version 57.