Brave is the first browser to natively support IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) , a P2P (peer to peer) communication protocol that wants to represent the basis of a decentralized web , changing the way the internet has worked so far. The protocol is presented as an improvement over the HTTP standard, able to offer faster access to content and greater resilience in case of problems or control of content by companies and nations (censorship) .

In very simple terms, while the HTTP protocol allows browsers to access information on a central server, IPFS exploits a distributed network of nodes. A bit like downloading content via BitTorrent . The operation, for the user, does not change: when you write a website in the address bar, the network automatically fishes between the nodes that host the content you want to consult.

The protocol born in 2015 can speed up access to content because data can be distributed and stored closer to the system that requested it, but the most important aspect of IPFS is that increases the possibility that the contents remain visible even in the presence of a technical problem or in case of censorship .

Brave is the browser based on Chromium conceived by Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich, who focuses on speed and privacy, and today counts about 24 millions of monthly active users . The company has been working on IPFS since 2018, but with the latest version 1.9 of the browser users can access IPFS content directly by solving URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) ​​ ipfs: // through a gateway or install an IPFS node with a click, in order to host part of the content and serve it to other users. “Installing a node allows Brave users to upload content to the IPFS P2P network, hosted on their node,” reads the company’s blog.

“IPFS is an exciting technology that can help content creators distribute them without high bandwidth costs, while leveraging the data deduplication and replication. There are performance benefits for uploading content to IPFS by leveraging its geographically distributed swarm network. With IPFS, previously viewed content can also be accessed offline. The IPFS network gives access to content even if it has been censored by corporations and nation states, such as parts of Wikipedia “.

The addition of IPFS is just one of the many solutions of Brave devoted to privacy, it should not be forgotten that the browser supports the Tor network and the Onion protocol since June 2018.