<p>you might be interested to know that the bitcoin blockchain can already be used to store arbitrary data. for example <a href="https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf" rel="nofollow">the original whitepaper pdf that satoshi wrote</a> explaining how bitcoin works has actually <a href="https://blockexplorer.com/tx/54e48e5f5c656b26c3bca14a8c95aa583d07ebe84dde3b7dd4a78f4e4186e713" rel="nofollow">been uploaded to the blockchain</a>. it was done using 948 outputs in a single transaction for a fee of 0.596175 btc ~ US$143.02 at the time i'm writing this. the whitepaper is only 180KB so the blockchain is not that cheap of a storage medium...</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T14:01:55.303Z
Yep, see [How is The Whitepaper Encoded](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/35959/9382) too. I've actually [forked pybitcointools](https://github.com/simcity4242/pybitcointools) and you can send binary files in the same way using `file_insert`. It's set for testnet by default.
Wizard Of Ozzie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T14:11:03.513Z
cool. are you an aussie? i live in adelaide
mulllhausen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T16:50:52.987Z
yep. Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney...depending on the week
Wizard Of Ozzie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-17T00:08:49.537Z
nice. if you're ever in adelaide and feel like beer [drop me an email](https://github.com/mulllhausen)
mulllhausen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T07:58:53.753Z
2015-06-16T08:06:59.450Z
2015-06-16T08:06:59.450Z
mulllhausen
<p>You're looking for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet" rel="nofollow">Freenet</a>, a p2p plataform which is only different from your idea in the fact that, to avoid wasting disk space, Freenet deletes old and unpopular content.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-16T14:15:55.430Z
If it has 'diskspace' issues, it's not using a distributed blockchain, is it?
Rudie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-15T17:21:15.067Z
2015-06-15T17:21:15.067Z
foobar
<ol>
<li>Nobody will waste his disk space for storing blockchain.</li>
<li>Nobody will spend money for mining blocks.</li>
<li>It will be very easy and very cheap for dishonest person to "doublespend" such currency.</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-15T15:12:26.153Z
2015-06-15T15:12:26.153Z
amaclin
<p>@amacilin's answer pretty much nailed it. But I wanted to counter a few such assertions /r/Bitcoin often makes about decentralised being better than centralised.</p>

<p>Recently someone said something to the effect of "Blockchain based storage/websites is the answer to the centralised server solutions, <em>which have been around forever</em>"</p>

<p>The thing is, centralised services have been around forever because:</p>

<ol>
<li>They work</li>
<li>They work very well</li>
<li>They're cheaper to maintain</li>
</ol>

<p>I know this isn't the question you asked specifically, but I thought it prudent to answer since often the excitement of "can it be done?" trumps "<strong>should it be done?</strong>.</p>

<p>It's also pretty prudent to question how moderation would be done. Even if if you're a staunch anti-censorship/moderation supporter, I don't know how one would ever sort through the crap without needing some moderation. </p>

<p>Essentially what I'm saying is the "issues" with centralised servers are probably not worse than the problems with using a decentralised service. And this isn't even considering the privacy implications!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T06:25:27.813Z
Reddit has 2TB of stored data, and 240 servers. [(source)](http://www.redditblog.com/2012/01/january-2012-state-of-servers.html) None of that gets easier when you move to a decentralized model.
Nick ODell
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T15:19:26.117Z
@NickODell: this is right, but the truth is, that no one needs to store 2TB of data. If reddit would like to decentralize, it will need a 2000 users which will keep 1GB of data. This is big, however people waste much more on their computers.

Moderation can be made by voting and reputation system (like on SO). If something will be deleted by moderator it will be deleted from default "enabled view", but always you could diggout what was there previously. Like in git... you have state of all workdir on HEAD which is default view, but you always can check each commit.
noisy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T03:58:15.867Z
2015-06-16T03:58:15.867Z
Wizard Of Ozzie
<p>Some time ago I started wondering: what if we create a new coin and use its Blockchain to store a website content?</p>

<p>Bitcoin is P2P, that way it is almost impossible to block bitcoin. Everything in the ledger is public and saved for eternity, would be good for some subreddits which were deleted recently.</p>

<p>What if the mining process would be just making backup of already existing specified social media websites?</p>

<p>Are there any similar projects, which could be used as a base?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-15T22:30:05.343Z
Free as in speech, or free as in beer?
Nick ODell
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-16T15:12:16.157Z
both! :) But "free" from the title is about freedom of speech
noisy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-20T11:01:22.277Z
Did you look at Cryptoschwartz? Based off ethereum
lajarre
<altcoin-development><blockchain-data-storage>
Blockchain as a way to host truly free social website like reddit
noisy
# Blockchain as a way to host truly free social website like reddit

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-15)

Some time ago I started wondering: what if we create a new coin and use its Blockchain to store a website content?

Bitcoin is P2P, that way it is almost impossible to block bitcoin. Everything in the ledger is public and saved for eternity, would be good for some subreddits which were deleted recently.

What if the mining process would be just making backup of already existing specified social media websites?

Are there any similar projects, which could be used as a base?

**Tags:** altcoin-development, blockchain-data-storage

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Free as in speech, or free as in beer?  
> **username_0**: both! :) But "free" from the title is about freedom of speech  
> **username_2**: Did you look at Cryptoschwartz? Based off ethereum  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-06-16. Score: 3

you might be interested to know that the bitcoin blockchain can already be used to store arbitrary data. for example [the original whitepaper pdf that satoshi wrote](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) explaining how bitcoin works has actually [been uploaded to the blockchain](https://blockexplorer.com/tx/54e48e5f5c656b26c3bca14a8c95aa583d07ebe84dde3b7dd4a78f4e4186e713). it was done using 948 outputs in a single transaction for a fee of 0.596175 btc ~ US$143.02 at the time i'm writing this. the whitepaper is only 180KB so the blockchain is not that cheap of a storage medium...

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Yep, see [How is The Whitepaper Encoded](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/35959/9382) too. I've actually [forked pybitcointools](https://github.com/simcity4242/pybitcointools) and you can send binary files in the same way using `file_insert`. It's set for testnet by default.  
> **username_3**: cool. are you an aussie? i live in adelaide  
> **username_4**: yep. Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney...depending on the week  
> **username_3**: nice. if you're ever in adelaide and feel like beer [drop me an email](https://github.com/username_3)  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-06-15. Score: 3

You're looking for [Freenet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freenet), a p2p plataform which is only different from your idea in the fact that, to avoid wasting disk space, Freenet deletes old and unpopular content.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: If it has 'diskspace' issues, it's not using a distributed blockchain, is it?  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2015-06-15. Score: 2

1. Nobody will waste his disk space for storing blockchain.
2. Nobody will spend money for mining blocks.
3. It will be very easy and very cheap for dishonest person to "doublespend" such currency.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-06-16. Score: 2

@amacilin's answer pretty much nailed it. But I wanted to counter a few such assertions /r/Bitcoin often makes about decentralised being better than centralised.

Recently someone said something to the effect of "Blockchain based storage/websites is the answer to the centralised server solutions, *which have been around forever*"

The thing is, centralised services have been around forever because:

1. They work
2. They work very well
3. They're cheaper to maintain

I know this isn't the question you asked specifically, but I thought it prudent to answer since often the excitement of "can it be done?" trumps "**should it be done?**.

It's also pretty prudent to question how moderation would be done. Even if if you're a staunch anti-censorship/moderation supporter, I don't know how one would ever sort through the crap without needing some moderation.

Essentially what I'm saying is the "issues" with centralised servers are probably not worse than the problems with using a decentralised service. And this isn't even considering the privacy implications!

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Reddit has 2TB of stored data, and 240 servers. [(source)](http://www.redditblog.com/2012/01/january-2012-state-of-servers.html) None of that gets easier when you move to a decentralized model.  
> **username_0**: @username_1: this is right, but the truth is, that no one needs to store 2TB of data. If reddit would like to decentralize, it will need a 2000 users which will keep 1GB of data. This is big, however people waste much more on their computers.  Moderation can be made by voting and reputation system (like on SO). If something will be deleted by moderator it will be deleted from default "enabled view", but always you could diggout what was there previously. Like in git... you have state of all workdir on HEAD which is default view, but you always can check each commit.  

---

