Brave announces the launch of automated NFT backup and enhanced Filecoin support features in the Brave Wallet

Author: Filecoin Network

The Filecoin community is excited to announce that Brave has officially launched new features in the Brave browser and wallet to support the development, implementation, and use of web3 through Filecoin and the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). These new features include pinning NFTs to IPFS, integrating the Filecoin virtual machine to access dApps, and utilizing other functionalities of the Filecoin network through the Brave wallet.

Brave and Protocol Labs began their collaboration in January 2021, when Brave announced support for IPFS (https://brave.com/brave-integrates-ipfs/) in its desktop browser, unlocking a unique new experience for everyday users of the web. Later that same year, the Brave wallet integrated Filecoin to assist users in storing, accessing, and distributing data on the decentralized web. Now, we are working with Brave to provide new ways for people to discover, participate in, and contribute to this growing decentralized network.

Brave Wallet Automatically Pins NFTs to IPFS

Brave desktop v1.51 introduces an automatic NFT pinning feature, allowing Brave's native wallet to ensure the security of the metadata of its supported NFTs through the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) (https://ipfs.tech/). "Pinning" means telling IPFS to store a file at a specific location indefinitely, allowing for long-term retrieval. By pinning a file to multiple locations, the security, retrievability, and permanence of that file are enhanced, thereby improving long-term robustness.

While many believe that NFT metadata (such as images and descriptions) is stored entirely on the blockchain, this is often not the case. Instead, most digital collectibles store their metadata on IPFS or other decentralized storage solutions. Some even store NFT metadata on servers from the Web 2.0 era, which poses risks of data loss or censorship. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out this blog post about NFT.Storage's decentralization.

"Brave now allows you to pin NFTs to your local IPFS node with just a few clicks, ensuring their ongoing availability on the IPFS network," said Brian Bondy, co-founder and CTO of Brave.

Even without understanding IPFS, Brave wallet users can pin NFTs to IPFS locally, preventing permanent loss of NFT metadata and reducing related concerns. This ensures that users can properly back up their NFTs' resources and metadata, keeping them continuously accessible. Enabling IPFS support in Brave is very simple and can be done in just a few minutes. Once configured, eligible NFTs will be automatically pinned. It is worth noting that this does not mean NFTs can defend against hacking or theft risks; it simply means that the associated data will be ensured to remain online through multiple distributed copies.

This pinning feature will initially be available for Ethereum-based ERC-721 tokens, with plans to expand support for other chains and token standards in the future. You can even pin NFTs owned by other wallet addresses, including those held in hardware wallets (even if they are not connected to the Brave wallet). To do this, you just need to manually input the token's details, and the Brave wallet will display and back up the data related to that NFT. This means that even if you do not own an NFT collectible, you can still help improve its data health and security.

Building Applications on the Filecoin EVM Virtual Machine via Brave Wallet

Brave has added support for the Filecoin EVM (FEVM) in the wallet, simplifying access to the FVM virtual machine. Here’s a recap of the relevant content:

• The FVM virtual machine runtime brings smart contracts to Filecoin, allowing anyone to program.

• FEVM is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) runtime that enables Ethereum and Solidity developers to run their smart contracts on the FVM with minimal or no modifications.

FEVM brings existing Ethereum tools and infrastructure to the Filecoin virtual machine, making it easier for people to experience the potential of Filecoin. As one of the teams behind the open-source project Filecoin, Protocol Labs anticipates significant progress in cross-chain contract calls, allowing storage processes to be executed from other blockchains. They also expect to see some experimentation in decentralized finance, social, gaming, and other fields, creating new intersections.

"With Brave wallet and browser supporting the largest open storage network in history, it unlocks new application potential in the web space, putting control directly in the hands of end users," said Dietrich Ayala, browser and product lead at Protocol Labs.