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Overview

Crust Network is a decentralized storage protocol built on Polkadot that provides incentivized IPFS pinning with on-chain storage proofs. Status: Planned Integration

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Why Crust?

  1. Permanent Storage - Economic incentives ensure files stay pinned indefinitely
  2. Decentralized - No single point of failure, files replicated across nodes
  3. On-Chain Proofs - Storage proofs verified on Polkadot parachain
  4. IPFS Compatible - Works with existing IPFS CIDs

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Planned Features

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Storage Guarantees

Unlike standard IPFS pinning, Crust provides cryptographic guarantees: 
┌─────────────┐      ┌─────────────┐      ┌─────────────┐
│   zkTerm    │      │   Crust     │      │  Polkadot   │
│   Server    │      │   Network   │      │  Parachain  │
├─────────────┤      ├─────────────┤      ├─────────────┤
│ 1. Pin CID  │ ───> │ 2. Replicate│ ───> │ 3. Store    │
│    request  │      │    to nodes │      │    proof    │
└─────────────┘      └─────────────┘      └─────────────┘

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Multi-Replica Storage

Files automatically replicated across multiple storage nodes:
  • Minimum 3 replicas per file
  • Geographic distribution
  • Automatic re-replication on node failure

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Storage Proofs

Storage providers must submit periodic proofs:
  1. Proof of Replication (PoR) - Prove data stored correctly
  2. Proof of Space-Time (PoST) - Prove data stored over time
  3. Verification - Proofs verified on-chain

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Planned Terminal Commands

# Pin file to Crust network
zk storage pin <cid> --network crust

# Check storage status
zk storage status <cid>

# Get replica count
zk storage replicas <cid>

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Planned API Endpoints

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Pin to Crust

POST /api/storage/crust/pin
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "cid": "QmXyz123...",
  "replicas": 5
}

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Check Status

GET /api/storage/crust/status/<cid>
Response: 
{
  "cid": "QmXyz123...",
  "replicas": 5,
  "status": "pinned",
  "expiresAt": "2026-12-01T00:00:00Z",
  "storageProof": "0xabc..."
}

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Architecture

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Current: Pinata Only

zkStorage → Pinata → IPFS

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Planned: Pinata + Crust

zkStorage → Pinata → IPFS
              ↓
           Crust Network (storage guarantees)
              ↓
           Polkadot (on-chain proofs)

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Cost Model

Crust uses CRU tokens for storage payments:
StorageDurationApproximate Cost
1 GB1 year~5 CRU
1 GBPermanent~50 CRU
Actual costs depend on network conditions and replica count.

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Integration Benefits

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For zkStorage

  1. Censorship Resistance - No central authority can remove files
  2. Permanence - Files survive even if zkTerm goes offline
  3. Verification - Users can verify storage on-chain
  4. Redundancy - Multiple replicas across global nodes

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For Users

  1. Trust Minimization - Don’t need to trust zkTerm for file persistence
  2. Transparency - Storage proofs publicly verifiable
  3. Longevity - Files accessible via any IPFS gateway

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Roadmap

  1. Phase 1: Research and SDK integration
  2. Phase 2: Testnet implementation
  3. Phase 3: Mainnet deployment
  4. Phase 4: Automatic pinning for all zkStorage uploads

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Resources