The IPFS blockchain is called filecoin.
You don't have to use filecoin to use IPFS, but it's all tied together.
If I am serving content via IPFS, or downloading content via IPFS, or writing my own IPFS implementation, where is the point where I end up using this blockchain that is tied together with IPFS?
Go to the Filecoin Wikipedia page. See how it says made by Protocol Labs. Click Protocol Labs, see how it actually takes you to the IPFS page. That's how synonymous the protocol and the company are. So anything made by the IPFS company, designed to operate with the protocol? I think it's reasonable to say it's something IPFS "has". At the very least it's misleading to say "no" without a footnote about Filecoin.
IPFS exists entirely independently from Filecoin. There is no blockchain. Full stop.
That Filecoin uses some common tech with ipfs like libp2p and cids doesn’t change that.
If/when filecoin disappeared, ipfs would keep working exactly the same. Because ipfs does not have (or use or depends on) a blockchain.
It's not just common tech, it's made by the same people. It's not independent. Full stop.
And even if the question was "Does IPFS use/depend on a blockchain?", the appropriate answer would be "no*" or "no, but" and then something that mentions filecoin.
Let me put it in another context, would you say Brave has a blockchain? I'd definitely say it does.
Heck, even Bluesky uses some IPFS tech. Does that mean it has a blockchain? Of course not.
> Let me put it in another context, would you say Brave has a blockchain? I'd definitely say it does.
I don’t use Brave, but from a cursory glance I think probably yes, it “uses/depends on” a blockchain for some functionality.
https://brave.com/1.39-release/
Can you show an example where that is the case for IPFS?
