Inside FDS Bangkok 2024: Key Takeaways – Part 1
The recent fifth edition of Filecoin Developer Summit (FDS) in Bangkok was a vibrant confluence of builders, developers, and visionaries dedicated to shaping the future of decentralized storage. Over the course of several days, the event featured insightful keynotes, interactive workshops, and lively discussions exploring the challenges and opportunities of the Filecoin ecosystem. This blog series will provide a recap of the key takeaways from the summit, starting with highlights from the following tracks:
- Filecoin Challenges, Opportunities & Next Steps
- Product Market Fit
- Filecoin Storage Primitives, Apps, L2s & Service Interop
- Dev Upgrade
Filecoin Challenges, Opportunities & Next Steps
This opening keynote by Founder, Juan Benet, provided a candid and thorough assessment of the current state of the Filecoin ecosystem, celebrating its progress while addressing areas where further improvement is needed. One of the central topics was the importance of improving metrics systems to provide better visibility into economic value flows and enhancing the storage and retrieval lifecycle. The discussion also identified four priority user service classes—Web2 large storage, Web2 object storage, Web3 object storage, and Web3 chain storage—highlighting their significance in meeting diverse user needs.
Participants explored strategies to refine existing tools and overcome challenges such as scaling and improving client usability. These discussions laid the foundation for actionable next steps, including iterative reviews of identified challenges, grading progress at future summits, and publishing AI-generated summaries to foster broader community engagement. This track highlighted the Filecoin ecosystem’s commitment to transparency and continuous growth, ensuring it evolves to address critical user needs effectively. To watch the interactive discussion surrounding this topic led by Juan Benet, check out the recording.
Product Market Fit
The Product Market Fit (PMF) track centered on aligning Filecoin’s offerings with real-world applications and user demands, emphasizing the need to understand and address client pain points. Day 1 focused on the importance of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), tying them closely to initiatives like Filecoin Plus and Spark. These SLAs were presented as vital tools for building trust and driving adoption. The sessions also underscored the need to narrow down built services, prioritizing the right service classes on-chain to create a more focused and effective ecosystem.
On Day 2, participants delved into client profiles and mapped the existing storage solutions landscape. Insights were drawn from projects like Storacha, Aethir, and Lighthouse, shedding light on client needs and the challenges faced by Storage Providers (SPs) and Filecoin L2 projects like Akave and Titan. The group also discussed user personas for different potential customers, especially from the traditional and enterprise storage verticals. The track concluded with concrete next steps, including the formation of a Client Success Working Group, the launch of an SLA dashboard by year-end, and the sharing of detailed client personas to foster ecosystem-wide awareness. This track emphasized the ecosystem’s commitment to addressing user needs through client-centric innovation.
Filecoin Storage Primitives, Apps, L2s & Service Interop
This track took a highly technical approach, exploring the ecosystem’s advancements and efforts to expand interoperability. A key highlight was the introduction of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a fully trustless paid storage deal flow, with on-chain markets for storage and retrieval. This upgrade trajectory is designed to scale Filecoin’s utility and value accrual, with plans to roll out by 2025. Participants discussed the roadmap for achieving core product requirements such as incentivized storage and retrieval service classes, verifiable SLAs with slashing mechanisms, client and Storage Provider KYC for trustless deal matchmaking and stablecoin payment options.
The sessions also addressed the challenges and opportunities of supporting 3rd party chains, focusing on seamless multichain interfaces and creating exportable storage services for use on other networks. The next steps outlined included defining client service classes through focused user research, developing on-chain data proofs, and implementing simplified market contracts and fee structures. The track reflected the ecosystem’s drive to push technical boundaries and achieve widespread adoption of its offerings by 2025.
Dev Upgrade
The Dev Upgrade track embodied a spirit of reflection and growth, encouraging participants to share insights and identify opportunities for improvement within the Filecoin ecosystem. The discussions highlighted the importance of learning from other ecosystems and cultures to adopt best practices. Participants explored existing problems and potential opportunities, generating concrete suggestions for improvement and committing to actionable changes.
Looking forward, the next steps include acting on the improvement suggestions made during the summit, analyzing session notes to uncover additional opportunities for growth, and running a refined version of this track at FDS-6 to measure progress. This track reinforced the ecosystem’s dedication to fostering collaboration and ensuring its developer community continues to thrive.
Looking Ahead: FIL Dev Summit 6 in Toronto
As we reflect on the incredible discussions and innovations at FDS Bangkok, it’s time to look forward to the next chapter. We’re thrilled to announce FIL Dev Summit 06 will take place May 12–13, 2025, in Toronto, bringing together developers, builders, and engaged community members to shape the future of Filecoin. Reserve your spot today!
This summit is more than just a gathering, it’s an opportunity for meaningful and impactful conversations that directly contribute to the evolution of Filecoin’s core protocol and network. Whether you’re an experienced developer or new to the ecosystem, FDS Toronto offers a unique chance to collaborate, learn, and make a tangible impact.
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details as we gear up for another dynamic and inspiring event that will push the boundaries of decentralized storage. And be sure to check back for parts 2 and 3 of this recap series.
