A blockchain-based decentralised cloud storage network Storj has announced the launch of its beta-version as it joins Microsoft Azure’s Blockchain-as-a-Service programme.

Currently, Storj can be tested only by those who have an invitation. The public version is expected to be announced soon.

Built on the principle of distributed network, the platform has certain similarities with torrents: the information stored in Storj is divided into blocks encrypted and distributed among the network users called “farmers”. Storj creators claim that this decentralised repository will provide a higher level of reliability and data protection:

“It is easy to steal a cookie from a cookie jar in a secluded area, but it is hard to do so when the jar is instead located in the middle of a public square, being observed by thousands of people.”

Network participants will have additional motivation to join the platform, as “farmers” renting out their hard drives’ space get paid. The fees for their storage services will be paid to them in the network’s own cryptocurrency called Storjcoin X (SJCX) which is expected to be traded on exchanges.

A few days earlier Storj announced its joining the Microsoft Azure platform as a participant of the “Blokchain-as-service” (BaaS) programme. Now Azure corporate customers can use Storj services through their Azure accounts via the platform's one-click deployment option.

As stated in the official blog, such companies as Coca-Cola, Cox Enterprises, InterContinental Hotels Group, The Weather Channel, and Capgemini have already expressed their interest in Storj, studying its potential commercialisation.

Founded in 2014, Storj collected $500,000 in bitcoins at a public crowdsale same year. Still, Storj is not the only platform developing decentralised cloud technology. For instance, a Boston-based start-up Sia offers its own decentralized cloud storage infrastructure, operating Siacoin digital currency.

Elena Platonova