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Changelog
- 12.08.2025.
Changed egress quota model from per-data-set to per-user model- Added a FilCDN Verifier contract to the architecture and renamed previous usage of the term "verifier" to "validator"
- 13.08.2025.
- Updated pricing model from usage-based to combination of streaming and usage-based model (hybrid)
- 10.09.2025.
- Reverted back to from hybrid (usage-based & streaming) model to usage-based model
GitHub issues
Overview
This document outlines the basic payment flows and architecture for FilCDN in alignment with a new usage-based pricing model.
We assume that the system will continue to support two separate payment rails: one for cache misses and another for cache hits. Each rail will be compensated proportionally to the amount of egress it serves. This assumption also implies that users would need to maintain separate funding for each payment rail, effectively enabling CDN functionality on a per-data-set basis rather than for the entire account.
Finally, it is assumed that the price of both cache-hit and cache-miss egress is the same amount.
Glossary
- Payment Rail – The channel through which payments flow from the payer to the payee.
- Payer – Also referred to as the user or client; the entity responsible for making payments to a service provider.
- Payee – Also referred to as the service provider; the entity delivering services in exchange for payments from the payer.
- Service Provider – An entity that offers services such as storage, egress, or compute to clients.
- Storage Provider – A type of service provider specifically offering storage services.
- Account – Tracks funds, lockups, obligations, and related activities associated with an individual owner. Both payers and payees maintain accounts.
- Verifier – A smart contract responsible for verifying proofs or data submitted by a service provider.
- Validator – A smart contract responsible for validating settlement amounts across payment rails.
- Settlement (Rail Settlement) – The process of calculating the payment amount for a defined period, based on pre-determined parameters, and transferring funds from the payer to the payee.