Arweave Permanent Storage
Permanent data storage network where uploaders pay once into an endowment that funds miners over time.
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Arweave key facts
| Category | Decentralized storage |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Web, CLI, SDK |
| Pricing | One-time upfront payment in AR to a storage endowment, priced for 20 replicas over 200 years |
| Token | AR |
| Open source | GPL-2.0 |
AR token
- Price
- $3.21 +1.1% 24h
- Market cap
- $210.8M
- Fully diluted value
- $210.8M
- 30-day change
- -22.2%
Market data: CoinGecko, updated Nov 10, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
What is Arweave?
Arweave is a decentralized network for permanent data storage. Per its lightpaper, uploaders make a one-time upfront payment in AR to a storage endowment, priced to cover 20 replicas for 200 years at present costs, and miners are paid from that endowment as they prove replication.
How Arweave works
Arweave is a blockchain in which every block both accepts new data and checks that older data is still stored.
To mine a block, a node must show it holds one or two pseudorandomly chosen 256 KiB recall chunks from the dataset, a scheme called Succinct Proofs of Random Access (SPoRA). A Verifiable Delay Function caps how many chunks can be tried per second, so mining rewards storage volume over drive speed and commodity hard drives stay competitive.
The dataset is split into 3.6 TB partitions, and each miner packs its copy with its own mining address, so only that miner earns from its packed replica. This pushes miners to keep distinct physical copies. When you upload, part of your fee goes to the miner who includes the transaction and the rest goes to the storage endowment, which pays miners over time. Nodes can also run an optional blacklist of transaction IDs, so each operator picks what content it stores and serves.
How to start with Arweave
- To pay for uploads you need AR in an Arweave wallet.
- The docs list two community wallets: arweave.app, an open-source web app that also ships as a Chrome and Firefox add-on, and Wander, a mobile wallet and Chromium extension.
- Since the 2.9 hard fork, accounts can use RSA or ECDSA (secp256k1) keys, but Arweave ECDSA addresses are not Ethereum addresses, so never send AR to an ETH address.
- Keep several copies of your key file, because the team cannot recover a lost wallet.
Arweave fees and limits
- The price per byte in AR is derived from network difficulty and recent history, and it targets 200 years of replicated storage at present prices, which the docs say stays sustainable with only a 0.5% yearly decline in storage costs.
The protocol sets a minimum fee for every transaction. A plain token transfer still pays a small fee, and a transfer to an account that does not exist yet adds a new-account fee. Upload fees scale with data size.
Risks to know before using Arweave
- Your one payment funds storage only as long as the endowment holds out.
- The protocol page says its purchasing power moves with the volume of data, storage costs and the AR token value.
- Miners choose what they store, so a node operator can refuse your data through its blacklist.
- The mining guide also warns that miners carry their own legal risk under data laws such as GDPR, which gives operators a reason to filter some content.
Arweave usage
From DefiLlama (fees users paid), updated Nov 10, 2026.
Arweave alternatives
Other projects people compare with Arweave.
Peer-to-peer storage network where clients pay providers who post collateral and prove storage cryptographically.
Decentralized cloud storage network where renters contract with independent hosts and pay in Siacoin.
S3-compatible object storage that spreads encrypted data across tens of thousands of independent storage nodes.
Decentralized blob storage protocol on Sui, priced in USD terms and paid in the WAL token.
Where Arweave ranks on DappAtlas
Arweave pros and cons
- Pay once, no recurring storage bills
- Price model targets 20 replicas for 200 years
- Node software is open source under GPL-2.0
- Payment is settled in AR, so the dollar cost moves with the token
- The upfront price assumes storage costs keep declining over time, per the lightpaper
Arweave FAQ
What is Arweave?
Arweave is a decentralized network for permanent data storage. Per its lightpaper, uploaders make a one-time upfront payment in AR to a storage endowment, priced to cover 20 replicas for 200 years at present costs, and miners are paid from that endowment as they prove replication.
How much does Arweave cost?
One-time upfront payment in AR to a storage endowment, priced for 20 replicas over 200 years, according to Arweave’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
How much do users pay Arweave in fees?
$44,500 over the last 30 days, according to DefiLlama on Nov 10, 2026.
Does Arweave have a token?
Yes, AR. Its market cap was $210.8M on CoinGecko on Nov 10, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
Sources
How this page works
Sources: Arweave: official site, Arweave: Lightpaper, Arweave: GitHub ArweaveTeam/arweave. Data as of Sep 26, 2026.
Not affiliated with any project listed. Educational content, not financial advice.