What is Storj?
The Storj token or STORJ is the native token of the blockchain-based cloud storage provider - Storj. It’s based on the ERC-20 token standard and is deployed on the Ethereum blockchain.
STORJ mainly serves as a medium of exchange for the storage provided within the Storj platform while also acting as an incentive for storage providers.
There is a total supply of 425,000,000 STORJ tokens, all of which have been pre-mined at launch.
Considering that the total supply is deflationary, it's possible that the Storj price will increase as there are fewer and fewer STORJ tokens.
Storj tokens can be obtained by providing storage space for the Storj DCS or via major exchanges.
Before making any purchase decisions, you can have a more thorough look at the Storj price history and the current STORJ price on the graph above.
What are the Main Features of Storj?
As discussed in the What is Storj section, we have established that Storj serves as a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) cloud storage provider powered by blockchain technologies. Being a P2P platform means that Storj doesn’t provide the storage itself. Instead, it connects users who have spare storage space with users who need said space by facilitating computer networking.
Users can lend out their spare storage space by simply hosting a node and becoming a host. All they need is a Storj account, a stable internet connection, and spare storage space. After setting up their node, the host just needs to keep it online 24/7 - the rest will be done by Storj. Based on the storage space and bandwidth provided, hosts are rewarded with Storj coins.
In addition, hosts are also responsible for confirming the status of the hosted data. This confirmation process happens by mining via a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
Before storing data, Storj encrypts it via AES-256-GCM symmetric encryption. It ensures that no one is able to view the information without being granted access which can be revoked by the user at any time. This data is then segmented into smaller pieces and distributed to random network nodes - hosts.
This type of encryption and distribution of data serves as a shield against any kind of attack. Since the data pieces are distributed among multiple hosts, they are almost impenetrable.
Those in need of storage space can rent it out for free. Although the free plan has several limitations such as maximum storage and bandwidth capacity of 150GB per month.
Storj is an open-source project. This means anyone can review the source code of the project and suggest improvements. These suggestions can be implemented into the Storj platform after a thorough code review.
Who Developed Storj?
The Storj crypto project was co-founded by Shawn Wilkinson and John Quinn in 2014.
Shawn Wilkinson successfully completed his studies at Morehouse College and earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science. Right after graduation, Shawn co-founded Storj Labs. Initially, he took the roles of both a CEO and a CTO, however, in late 2017, he stepped down to a CSO position.
On the other hand, John Quinn had a lot of experience under his belt prior to starting Storj which was mostly related to the investment banking industry. He earned a BA in economics and Russian at Wake Forest University. After Storj, he also founded Decentral Park Capital - a research-driven investment company centered around crypto.
The duo introduced their first whitepaper for the project in 2014. However, it has gone through some major changes throughout the years. The current version whitepaper, v3.0, was published in late 2018.
During the inception of Storj, they conducted a public crowd sale which resulted in an investment of 910 BTC. At that point, this huge amount of BTC was worth around 460,000 US Dollars.
