According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin researcher Robin Linus has published a proposal for decentralized file hosting, incentivized via Bitcoin payments. The 'BitStream' proposal outlines the creation of an open market for content hosting through an atomic swap of coins for files. Using payment channels like Lightning, the server would charge for each download, avoiding spiraling overhead costs in the event of a large number of downloads. The server encrypts the file, and if there's any mismatch during decryption, the client can derive a compact fraud proof. A bond contract guarantees the client receives the exact file or can punish the server.
The BitStream proposal is similar to Linus's previous 'BitVM' paper, which aimed to address the risk of damaging the network's performance by carrying out transactions or computations off-chain. In both cases, transactions or computations would only need to be carried out on-chain for verification or to address a dispute. Linus confirmed that the two proposals could be combined, and when asked what makes this proposal better than other storage cryptocurrencies, Linus simply responded, 'It's Bitcoin.'