Blockchain Bites: Filecoin's Mainnet, M&A's Upswing, Tarbert's Environmental Concerns

Filecoin fliesThe Filecoin network mainneted at 14:44 UTC, beginning its FIL token distribution.

Filecoin is a system from Protocol Labs meant to be both a decentralized file storage and content distribution network in one.

The new token is very likely to make history as the fastest newly live blockchain to reach a market capitalization of over a billion dollars, though we can't really know until the FIL tokens enter trading.

Despite multiple delays, the Filecoin project has attracted considerable attention, particularly in China, where investors have been speculating heavily on the network's mining hardware and the FIL token.

The firm signed an agreement to purchase Distributed Technology Markets, a broker-dealer and alternative trading system registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

While "Impressed" by Ethereum's financial and technological capabilities, Tarbert said the network boasts environmental benefits.

"Climate change poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system and to its ability to sustain the American economy [and] may also exacerbate financial system vulnerability that have little to do with climate change; including vulnerabilities caused by a pandemic that has stressed balance sheets, strained government budgets, and depleted household wealth," the press release reads.

While the agency does not explicitly cite cryptocurrency or blockchain technology or any specific financial technologies, the agency is pledged to "Accelerate the net-zero transition."

Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain by market capitalization, is in the process of shifting to a new PoS consensus model.

"At some point we've got to move in terms of scale and efficiency to deal with environmental issues but also to deal with the cost issue," Tarbert said.