Is Storj (STORJ) A Good Investment?

Introduction

Storj (STORJ) pronounced as “storage, is an Ethereum token that powers a decentralized cloud storage network for developers called Storj DCS (Decentralized Cloud Storage). After a customer uploads a file to Storj DCS, pieces of each file are distributed to a global network of independent nodes. When someone requests the file, it is then recompiled securely and made available for download. This means that anyone can store files on Storj DCS without having to trust a centralized data center. Developers can purchase cloud storage services with STORJ. Network participants earn STORJ in return for providing unused hard drive space and bandwidth to the network.

The Storj project is owned and developed by Storj Labs Inc. Storj intends to facilitate a faster, cheaper, and secure file storage solution than traditional cloud storage platforms. To achieve its goal, Storj deploys several innovative technologies and methods to make sure that users are able to store and retrieve data in the fastest possible way while not compromising the security and integrity of data.

Storj Labs Inc was founded in 2014 by Shawn Wilkinson with co-founders John Quinn. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. Shawn was previously appointed as CEO, but in March 2018, he stepped down from the post to serve as CSO of the company. Shawn was replaced by Ben Golub (Ex-CEO of Docker) who currently serves as the Executive Chairman & Interim CEO. Co-founder John Quinn has been appointed as the Chief Revenue Officer. The company launched its initial coin offering (ICO) of the new tokens on May 19, 2017. At the end of the token sale on May 25, 2017, the company had raised about $30 million. Storj Labs allowed SJCX holders to exchange their tokens with the new ones in a 1:1 ratio through a token conversion campaign that lasted till October 2017.

Storj Labs pre-mined its entire supply of tokens at the inception; no new tokens can be created via STORJ mining. Nevertheless, users can obtain STORJ tokens by becoming a farmer in the network. Another obvious way to acquire STORJ is through trading on a cryptocurrency exchange. Up until now, cloud storage companies have dictated the terms of service to their users, and as a result, there has been little to no competition within this digital sector. However, with the introduction of Storj, all of that may change."

How does Storj work?

Three main components contribute to powering the Storj network. These include: 

• Storage Nodes – Allow users to rent out excess space on their hard drive and reliably store and return data for a fee. 
• Uplinks – Run on the client's machine and upload files to the network. Uplinks also coordinate with peers to store and retrieve data.
• Satellites – Coordinate traffic between the storage nodes and uplinks. Satellites are responsible for storing metadata, keeping storage nodes honest, and distributing payments. Each user has an account on a satellite.

Segments and Stripes 

Once a user’s uplink receives permission from their satellite to store data on the network, Storj files go through a process called segmenting. During this process, files are compressed, encrypted, and subsequently shredded, meaning they are split into many segments and stripes. (A stripe is a division of a segment.)

The stripes of the original files are then distributed and stored across the network. To decrypt and retrieve their files, users must provide the same private key used to compress and encrypt their files in the first place. Of note, if a segment is small enough, then it will most likely be stored within a satellite, rather than on a storage node. 

In order to account for nodes going offline and potentially losing a stripe, Storj introduces the concept of redundancy. This is a means by which all stripes are replicated a certain number of times and sent to different storage nodes in the network, a feature that prevents tampering and censorship by any small number of nodes.

Financial Analysis

Storj price today is $1.33 with a 24-hour trading volume of $23,087,029. STORJ's price is up 0.6% in the last 24 hours. It has a circulating supply of 140 Million STORJ coins and a total supply of 425 Million. At the time of writing this post (Oct 26, 2021), STORJ's Return On Investment (ROI) over the past year was 235%, underperformed in the 'Storage' category which had 718% growth over the past year. It underperformed in the crypto market which had 21640% growth over the past year.

Projects with public Github account have more transparency and reliability. Regularly, investing in projects with multiple contributors and commits is considered a safer and better investment (this means they are busy working and building the project). According to its Github account, there are 76 Contributors to the development of STORJ.

Another critical factor in the success of any project is gaining public attention. Our data shows that STORJ's Twitter account saw a growth of 3% over the last months in the number of followers, which is considerable. Also, the number of STORJ Reddit subscribers increased by 4%.

Over the last five months, STORJ's Market Capitalization rank followed an overall declining trend, starting at the rank of 247-247 on July-Aug 2021, reaching 299 in Oct 2021. However, by the time of writing this post, STORJ's market cap rank is about 321, and its value is $26,406,273 Million. Moreover, its liquidity score is 50% on the market's average score, making it relatively harder to sell in bear markets.

You are saying that Storj (STORJ) is the best cryptocurrency to invest in?

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