FileTribe: Blockchain-based Secure File Sharing on IPFS

This paper introduces FileTribe, a secure decentralized application for sharing files in closed groups. It employs IPFS, a distributed file system, as its data storage layer, avoiding the pitfalls of centralized storage solutions. Changes to files and group membership are recorded separately on a blockchain, making them irrefutable. A Decentralized Application (Dapp) on top of Ethereum is responsible for user authentication and reaching consensus among group members regarding the state of the group and shared files. File access control is supervised by the members themselves. These features combine to make FileTribe unique in its ability to serve a wide range of safetycritical scenarios, including ones where cloud-based or pure peerto- peer solutions fall short.