While Upfiring, the heavily anticipated file-sharing dApp has yet to “officially” launch, the release of its source code and supporting documentation has made it possible for developers to recreate the app. This “soft launch” is being lauded as one of the greatest crypto releases this year. However, because of the Upfiring team’s quiet persona, little information is available on actually using the application to earn crypto from file sharing. This guide aims to walk through the use of the application.

Download the Upfiring App here

Installation & Set Up

Installation

The first step in installing the app is finding the correct file. Upfiring’s GitHub contains installation files for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Find the correct file for your computer and download it.

Windows: look for the file ending in .exe

Mac: look for the file ending in .dmg

Linux: look for the file ending in .deb

Wallet Setup

Before you can start seeding and downloading files you should set up your wallet. To do so, navigate to the “Wallet & Earning” tab. Look for the wallet icon on the left of the application (second from the bottom).

From here, you have the option of adding an existing Ethereum wallet or creating a new one.

If you opt to import an existing wallet you will need access to that wallet’s private key or wallet file.

If you would rather create a new wallet the process is very easy. Just click on “Create a new wallet”. This will prompt you to create a password.

Regardless of whether you use a new or existing wallet, a password must be set. This password will be needed when completing transactions within the app. Save this password is a safe place, if you lose it you will lose access to your funds. Upfiring has no access to your password and will not be able to reset it for you.

When you set a password a json wallet file will be created. This file grants access to your wallet so be sure to also save it in a safe place.

Funding your wallet

Because Upfiring as an Ethereum-based decentralized application, transactions on the blockchain require a small amount of Ethereum to be used as “gas”. Add a minimum of 0.03-0.05 ETH to ensure your transactions can be processed. Only about 0.0004 ETH should be used for each action on the blockchain.

Transferring funds onto your wallet can be done by clicking on the “Copy Public Key” icon to the right of your wallet address within the Wallet tab. This will copy your address to your computer’s clipboard. Paste this value into the address field of whatever service you store your other UFR/ETH on.

Once you have deposited funds into your wallet you will need to send them to the smart contract for use within the app. Do this by clicking “Replenish funds” under the Smart Contract Balance area in the Wallets tab. Please allow a few minutes for the transaction to complete. Once you have a UFR balance in the smart contract you can decrypt files.

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Creating a UFR File

The process for creating a UFR file is very simple. Once you have a file ready for conversion, navigate to the “Upload” tab (upper-most tab on the left) in the Upfiring app and click “Upload file” on the top right. From here you will see the screen shown below:

As the fields suggest, some information is required regarding the file you are uploading. First, set a name for the file. The name should quickly identify what the file is about in a few words.

Next, set a price in UFR. This is the price downloaders of the file will have to pay in UFR to decrypt and access the file.

The next field, “Save to”, asks for where on your computer you would like the newly created UFR file stored. It’s best to create a single folder for all of your UFR files for easy searching later. This is important: the created .enc file MUST STAY IN THE SAME FOLDER in order for seeding to work. If you direct the app to send the file to a folder and then move the file to another folder you will not be able to seed that file.

The final field asks for a description. In a sentence or two go into a little more detail about what the contents of the file contains.

Finally, clicking on the “Add Files” field will allow you to upload the file you are trying to convert to .ufr. Click this field and select the desired file.

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Downloading a UFR File

To download a file you must first find the file online or via someone you know. Because of legality concerns, the app doesn’t allow users to browse files in a way similar to Napster or Limewire. To find files available for download visit the official Upfiring forum’s file section. You can also discuss files via the organization’s Discord and Telegram channels. There is also a subreddit dedicated to UFR file sharing: r/upfiringfiles.

Once you find a file you’d like to download, download it to your computer.

Next, open the Upfiring app and click on the second tab from the top, “Downloads”.

Click on the red “Browse .ufr files” button and you will be prompted to select the .ufr file from your computer.

From here, click the plus sign on the top right to select where on your computer you would like the new files downloaded.

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Reseeding a UFR File

Once you’ve downloaded the file via the app, you are already automatically reseeding the file. You will begin to earn UFR once the next person decrypts the file.

While simply downloading the file entitles you to a small piece of the UFR earnings, decrypting the file will grant you the rights to 3x more UFR.

If you would like to reseed to file at a different price, follow the steps outlined in the “Creating a UFR file” section of this guide. Enter your new price. Be aware that changing the file price or any other data related to it will cause the ecosystem to treat it as a unique file, making you ineligible to earn from the downloaders of the original file. You will have to share this newly created file on your own.

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Payments

A main differentiating factor between Upfiring and other file-sharing services is the ability to earn cryptocurrency through it’s usage. Fortunately, the app makes the process super simple as well. As previously stated, simply downloading the file on the app makes you eligible to earn UFR. Earned UFR will visible in the payments tab. Upon app setup a Ethereum wallet will be created. An existing wallet can be imported as well if you prefer that using another wallet you already have access to. When you earn UFR it will be credited to the smart contract section of your app. Keeping UFR in the smart contract allows you to interact with other files. If you would like to send the UFR from the smart contract to your wallet you can click the withdrawal button.

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Troubleshooting & Error Messages

Common Issues

Can’t re-open the app after closing it

One of the main points of confusion is when the application is closed out. When closed out, the application will remain running in the background. This is enabled so users can still seed without having the Upfiring app open on their desktop. This setting can be changed in the settings tab.

Some users claim they can’t reopen the app once they X it out. This is because the app is already technically running. To open the app on your screen look for the Upfiring icon in your tray. The location of this depends on your operating system. On a Mac it can be found on the top of the screen to the left of the battery icon. On windows, this can be found in the tray on the bottom right of the toolbar.

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Common Error Messages

Key to decrypt the file(s) cannot be found. Please try again later.

This message is displayed to users trying to decrypt a file if no seeders are currently available to seed the file or if they have moved the .enc file to an incorrect folder

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FAQs

How Much Will I Earn?

Original Seeder:

As the original seeder, you will never receive less than 50% of any UFR paid for the decryption of your file.

Downloaded (but not decrypted):

If you download but don’t decrypt a file you are entitled to a share proportional to the number of other seeders at a ratio of 1:3

Downloaded & Decrypted:

If you download and then decrypt the file your payout will be 3X that of a downloader that didn’t pay to decrypt the file.

Example:

A file that costs 10 UFR has 5 seeders, 1 is the original seeder, 2 downloaded and decrypted the file, and 2 only downloaded it (didn’t decrypt). The payouts would be as follows:

Original seeder: 5 UFR

2 that downloaded & decrypted: 1.875 UFR/each

2 that only downloaded: 0.625 UFR/each

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More information about Upfiring can be found in Upfiring Founder, Tyler Fallon’s interview with Crypto Personality Girl Gone Crypto: