What is Siacoin? Competitor of AWS and WWS
Siacoin is a crypto that competes directly with Amazon Web Services and Windows Web Services.
How does-it work?
Users can offer unused storage space (on their hard drives or other solid-state devices) to other Sia users and earn a rental fee paid in crypto. This is called hosting.
If users need file storage space, they can pay a rental fee in crypto to upload and store their files securely and privately on the Sia network.
Rents vary according to the number of gigabytes required and the length of time they're occupied.
For additional security, stored files are automatically split into several redundant pieces, each stored on a different host's local server. Such redundancy helps ensure stored files are always available even if some hosts go offline.
Overall, this is a simple, but accurate vision.
You might think of it as a secure, crypto version of Dropbox or Google Docs.
Rental agreements are written into the blockchain as smart contracts. This means they enforce themselves — matching user needs to available resources, and handling payments automatically.
Sounds good right?
But there is always a but...
- Siacoin is first-generation blockchain technology. Too slow compared to new projects
- Sia's not-very-friendly user interface. Having a simple interface is key to adress Mass Market
- In addition to paying rent for your file on Sia Storage network, you also have to pay a fee every time you retrieve a file from the network
- Not so much due diligence to make sure people really do keep these files on their hardware
This could easily be a mortal threat to business, because the only clear advantage Sia seems to have over Dropbox and Google is the promise of robust crypto safety and privacy.
Conclusion
The concept is great, the end-market is there but the Blockchain and the Interface need to be upgraded.
In addition, we did not talk about competition but STORJ is also a program trying to compete with Sia (even if it is less well-known).
Weiss Ratings gave Sia a C-
You don't want to miss a Crypto news?
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook
Thanks for sharing about siacoin.
Solid analysis on this @vlemon. Have been interested in putting something into this one, and your critique is valuable in making that decision...
Thank you for your kind comment.
I still think the business model and the company are great but to become a true AWS competitor they still need to improve :).
Take care.
Lately Sia skyrocket and looks very strong.
Indeed, it is performing well and they are very active !
Very informative post thank you
I appreciated the "But". It is easier to list all the pros of a crypto, but not as easy to list the problems with it. I wish SIA well, as all crypto have their share of problems.
Thanks!