Storage Miners

Storage miners are the operators who supply hard-drive capacity to a decentralized storage network and are rewarded in the network's token for doing so. The term is most closely associated with Filecoin, which now usually calls them storage providers. Unlike bitcoin miners, who spend computing power solving puzzles, storage miners earn by keeping clients' data safe and by regularly submitting cryptographic proofs, such as proof of spacetime, showing that the data is still stored. On Filecoin they must lock up tokens as collateral, which can be partly forfeited if they fail to prove storage or go offline. Running a storage operation requires large amounts of disk space, reliable internet connections and capable hardware, so the work has become increasingly professional. Also see storage node.