Most NFT metadata is stored on IPFS — a content-addressed distributed file system. IPFS does not guarantee persistence: files disappear if no node is incentivised to pin them. Within 5-10 years, a significant fraction of NFT collections will have broken metadata links, rendering images inaccessible. Arweave solves this with a one-time payment model and an endowment that funds miners perpetually.

Arweave charges users a one-time storage fee that funds an endowment — similar to a university endowment that earns interest to fund operations indefinitely. Conservative assumptions about hardware cost declines and storage economics suggest this endowment can fund the network for 200+ years. This is not a marketing claim; it is the mathematical foundation of the protocol.

The comparison with Filecoin is instructive. Filecoin is cheaper per GB but requires periodic renewal of storage deals. For ephemeral data — application files, temporary archives — Filecoin's model makes more economic sense. For data that must genuinely persist — legal records, cultural heritage, financial histories — Arweave's one-time payment model has no real competitor. See the storage showdown for a full protocol comparison.