About Pinata
Pinata is the simplest way to upload and manage files on IPFS. Technical briefing by Kyle Tut & Justin Hunter.
Overview of Briefing
0:00 – 1:05
Kyle Tut opens with an introduction of his co-presenter, Justin Hunter. We learn a fun fact about Justin (he broke everything) and Kyle jumps into a background on Pinata.
Kyle summarizes what Pinata does as “off chain management for blockchain applications,” and he goes on to explain why off chain management is important.
1:05 – 1:55
Kyle introduces the concept of the IPFS (The Interplanetary File System) and discusses the history thereof. IPFS is used to generate what’s called a CID (Content Identifier).
1:55 – 3:25
He begins sharing his screen to demonstrate what Pinata does.
Kyle draws our attention to the middle of the screen showing the individual CIDs associated with each file. Each piece of data has its own CID. One of the places that this concept relates to where PInata has had success is in the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) space.
Using a picture (jpeg) of an ice cream cone as an example of a piece of data, Kyle explains how users can upload data to Pinata. Users can upload just about any file type onto the platform.
After uploading data to the platform users will take the hyperlink Kyle is highlighting. It is then used to verify that the correct data is stored in the NFT when it’s minted. Many of the NFT marketplaces are underpinned by the Pinata platform.
3:25 – 5:37
Kyle expands on the use cases by explaining that Pinata can be used by anyone or any company that wants to use the CID paradigm. Most of the use of the platform comes from developers using the API, but they have also built the user interface we’re seeing on the screen.
PInata also allows for Unique Gateways. Kyle explains the expansion beyond the original .io into Unique Gateways with more naming customization. Users can “grab” content from these gateways and then serve that content without access to the gateway or the cloud. This provides another level of customization.
5:37 – 9:50
Kyle poses the question of changing or editing the underlying content and how one can do that without breaking the system. With Pinata, users can update NFTs overtime. They don’t have to be immutable and unchanging. They can be very “living.”
Kyle closes.