2026-01-08 17:21:28

We've all heard about the beautiful vision of Web3—decentralization, user autonomy, open co-creation. But turning that dream into reality requires solving a bunch of fundamental issues. Among them, there's a seemingly insignificant but actually critical bottleneck: how to store and manage data.

Talking about this, many people have felt the pain firsthand.

**First, let's look at the cost issue.** The brilliance of platforms like Ethereum and other smart contract platforms lies in providing a trustless execution environment. But this capability comes at a steep price—storage costs are ridiculously high. Storing 1MB of data on Ethereum can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars in Gas fees. What does this mean? Directly storing images, videos, complex game data, or transaction histories on-chain is simply not economically feasible. What can project teams do? They have to settle for a workaround: put the actual data off-chain (on cloud servers or elsewhere), and only leave a "pointer"—a URL or hash—on the chain. It sounds practical, but the problem is, this approach completely undermines the blockchain's original purpose of "permanent storage" and "immutability." Who decides the validity of off-chain data? If servers go down, companies shut down, or data gets altered, it's not news.

**Next, let's look at the experience pitfalls.** Many of the beautiful-looking NFTs are actually stored on IPFS or centralized servers. But don’t be fooled by the IPFS name—access speeds can be frustrating. Waiting for loading, broken links, files suddenly missing—these "ghost events" are no longer surprises in the NFT community. Why? Because the integration between decentralized storage and on-chain applications is not yet mature enough, and data availability cannot be guaranteed. There's a gap between user experience and technical ideals.

Ultimately, these issues point to one direction: Web3 needs a storage solution that is cheap, reliable, and user-friendly. How to find a balance between decentralization and practicality has become a major challenge facing the entire industry.

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gm_or_ngmi

· 19h ago

Really, storage is the Achilles' heel of Web3. No matter how much decentralization is touted, it's all in vain. Gas fees of thousands of dollars per MB—who can afford that? No wonder everyone is secretly using off-chain storage. If that's the case, what’s the point of decentralization? As for IPFS access speeds, I've truly seen NFT images take five minutes to load, and sometimes they just return a 404—it's ridiculous. We need to figure out a way to break this deadlock, or Web3 will never escape this curse.

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AirdropCollector

· 01-10 15:37

This is the awkward reality of Web3: ideals are great, but the costs can bring you back to reality. Basically, there is no perfect solution; both sides are uncomfortable. The access speed of IPFS is indeed outstanding, but it takes half a day for me to view my NFT. The off-chain storage approach is basically just Web2 with a different name—what's the point of talking about decentralization? Gas fees are so outrageous that it's actually better to just store data on a server; after all, everything ends up centralized in the end. The core issue is that no one has truly solved the problem of storage costs; everyone is taking detours.

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WalletInspector

· 01-08 17:48

This is the most heartbreaking part of Web3 right now—the gap between the dream of decentralization and reality is right here. Basically, I want to eat fish but don't want to smell fishy, I want it cheap and decentralized at the same time, haha. I've really felt the pain of Gas fees; it often costs thousands of dollars, who the hell can afford that? As for IPFS, honestly, the loading speed of my NFT images is like a time machine; no matter how good the internet connection is, it's useless. But you're right, this is a tough nut that the industry must crack. The key is whether there are projects that can truly solve this pain point; right now, all the solutions are too compromised.

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Liquidated_Larry

· 01-08 17:47

Talking about storage issues again, no doubt about it A few thousand dollars for 1MB, really outrageous IPFS is painfully slow, loading an NFT image takes forever Who would trust off-chain data? Centralized solutions still end up at the same point Need to find a solution that's both cheap and reliable, but it seems the industry still has a long way to go in exploring options

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zkProofGremlin

· 01-08 17:41

Basically, Web3 is still a semi-finished product. To achieve true decentralization, the fundamental storage issues need to be addressed first.

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MetaMisery

· 01-08 17:41

Basically, Web3 storage is all talk and no action right now. Gas fees are terrifying, and off-chain data is just like not being on the chain at all. IPFS's speed is truly terrible—loading takes forever and files get lost. NFT community members have long been numb to it. We need to find a solution that is both affordable and reliable, or else decentralization will just be a joke.

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WhaleMistaker

· 01-08 17:30

Damn, it's the same old storage cost mess. I already said that storing data on-chain is a joke. That's right, those NFT images load painfully slow. I don't believe IPFS can save Web3. Cheap, reliable, and easy to use? I don't think it's that simple. Spending thousands of dollars on gas fees to store a few things—unbelievable. No wonder everyone is moving off-chain.

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FundingMartyr

· 01-08 17:27

Honestly, with such high Gas fees, on-chain storage is basically an expensive joke. The loading speed of IPFS is utterly frustrating, and the NFT community has long been numb to it. Storage solutions are not something to rush; we need to find affordable and reliable options. This is probably the most painful part of Web3 right now. Decentralization and usability are really hard to achieve at the same time. No one can trust off-chain data; the risks are too high. Storing 1MB costs thousands of dollars? That's crazy. How can large-scale applications be possible?

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