Lighthouse is a perpetual file storage protocol that allows you to pay once for your files and store them long-term.

The aim is to move users from a rent-based cost model where they rent their files on cloud storage to a perpetual storage model. It is built on IPFS and Filecoin, with smart contracts to be deployed on multiple chains like FVM, Optimism, Polygon, Solana, etc.

It uses the miner network and storage capacity of the Filecoin network and IPFS content-addressing system.

• Perpetual Storage - The long-term storage model sets Lighthouse apart from existing protocols that provide recurring payment choices and also from web2 storage systems
• Encryption and Private data - Ability to store private and encrypted data without the hassle of managing private key of the file and build token-gated applications using Smart Contracts on any chain.
• Dedicated custom IPFS Gateway - This gateway serves and retrieves your files quickly. It even delivers multimedia content like 4k videos with speed.
• Pay using any token - Smart contracts will be on popular EVM-based chains like ethereum, polygon, optimism, bsc, etc. hence direct integration with dapps of these ecosystems. Users can pay for storage via any token on the chain of their choice and get verifiable proof. Supporting Non-EVM-based chains like Solana as well.
• Image Optimization - Users can set the height and width of files when retrieving images from the IPFS and get image thumbnails, etc saving a lot of bandwidth and optimizing images to any size
• Low cost - With the open market of Filecoin miners who earn block rewards from the network, Lighthouse can provide low-cost storage.
• Verifiable storage - Provides users with verifiable storage proofs to know which miners are storing your data.
• No Vendor Lock-in - The benefit of using a storage system like Lighthouse is that it doesn't lock you in, and users can still easily control and move data

While both IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and Filecoin are pivotal technologies in decentralized storage, they serve distinct but complementary roles:

• IPFS: A peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to store and share files in a distributed file system. It uses content-addressing to uniquely identify each file in a global namespace, making it efficient for retrieving cached data and sharing files.
• Filecoin: A decentralized storage network that incentivizes storage providers and clients to offer and use storage space. While IPFS handles the distribution and retrieval of files, Filecoin ensures that those files are stored reliably over time through economic incentives.

By leveraging IPFS with Filecoin underneath, Lighthouse leverages the strengths of both technologies: the efficient file retrieval, immutability of IPFS with the reliable, incentivized storage of Filecoin. This combination ensures low-cost, verifiable, and perpetual storage solutions.