Decentralized storage is the stated preference.

The revealed preference is storage built for crypto.

They are significantly different.

Everyone is from somewhere. Cofounder and CEO of Pinata. https://www.pinata.cloud/

What are the key features of storage built for crypto in your view?

Bitcoin Believer, Ethereum Explorer,  NFT collectooor and Digital Marketer. zk/acc

1. Files need to be verifiable before, during, and after they are attached onchain. If files can't be verified throughout their lifespan, then it renders the guarantees of the blockchain useless.

2. File permissioning needs to be managed in a state, token, and wallet-first way e.g. access files based on a wallet signature or token holding.

3. Files need to meet the requirements of #1 and #2 regardless of how centralized or decentralized the infrastructure the files are stored on are.

#2: Didn't mean to preclude open access. But, then, the files should still be managed in a chain first way and not a web2 account based way, open or permissioned. Long-term storage can be achieved through transferring verifiable files to many providers over time. 

#3: If you have verifiable files that are managed chain first, the deployer or holder can decentralize as much as they prefer depending on risk. Maximum decentralization will never win with files because the cost is prohibitive and always will be.

And this gets to the crux which is people state they want decentralized storage but they won't pay for decentralized storage. But, there are obvious and easy ways to manage files for crypto that meets the revealed behaviors.

1. Agreed. 

2. Not so sure. When people talk about decentralising assets like NFTs for example (think CloneX as recent example) they are looking for open access to files on long term storage not based on a single provider. No wallet signature required on the host and smart contract signatures aren’t inherently linked to offchain decentralised storage like IPFS. 

3. The centralisation scale really does matter on multiple levels. If the deployer changes an asset after the fact, a user can be rugged, if the host takes you down e.g. Cloudflare (technically CDN) then the dev is rugged. If it’s genuinely onchain, static and decentralised then nobody gets rugged unless the chain state is lost.