As opposed to a centrally located server, IPFS is built around a decentralized system of user-operators who hold a portion of the overall data.

[6] In contrast to traditional location-based protocols like HTTP and HTTPS, IPFS uses content-based addressing to provide a decentralized alternative for distributing the World Wide Web.

[5][17] An alpha version was launched in February 2015, and by October of the same year was described by TechCrunch as "quickly spreading by word of mouth.

"[1] Network service provider Cloudflare started using IPFS in 2018 and launched its own gateway in the system in 2022.

[33] Security researchers had worked out previously the theoretical possibility of using IPFS as a botnet command-and-control system.