ZeroNet, IPFS — Darknet Without Tor: How It Works and Who Needs It

Intro

The darknet isn’t just Tor. There are alternative networks that don’t rely on onion routing or .onion addresses. ZeroNet and IPFS represent a different philosophy — decentralized networks without central servers, and sometimes even without internet. They're not replacements for Tor, but alternative tools with their own strengths, weaknesses, and use cases.

🌐 ZeroNet

How it works:

• Built on BitTorrent + Bitcoin-style cryptography.
• Sites (called “zites”) are distributed like torrents.
• Each site has a public key–based address, like:
  1HeLLo4uzjaLetFx6NH3PMwFP3qbRbTf3D

Key feature:
You download a site and become a host for it. Only the site owner (with the private key) can make changes.

Pros:

• Fully decentralized.
• Content lives on user devices — not on servers.
• No servers to block or censor.

Cons:

• User IPs are visible — anonymity is questionable.
• No built-in encryption.
• Project is semi-abandoned (though forks still live).

Best use case:
Censorship-resistant blogs or websites — if you're not worried about exposing your IP (or you’re routing through VPN or Tor bridge).

🛰 IPFS (InterPlanetary File System)

How it works:

• Each file is hashed, and the hash becomes its address — e.g.:
  QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkddP1mXWo6uco
• Files are fetched from any node that has them.
• You pin content → someone requests it → the network locates the closest node with it.

Pros:

• Immutable, decentralized content.
• Can be used for websites, blogs, archives, even decentralized social media.
• Highly censorship-resistant.

Cons:

• IP is visible — like in any P2P system.
• No built-in privacy or encryption.
• Needs a gateway (like ipfs.io) or a local node to access content.

Best use case:
Sharing hard-to-delete content: documents, forums, critical articles. Ideal for "forever web" use cases.

⚠️ But Where’s the “Dark”?

Neither ZeroNet nor IPFS encrypts traffic or hides IPs by default. They're decentralized — not anonymous.
To use them as a darknet alternative:

• Run them over Tor or VPN.
• Scrub all metadata before publishing.
• Control what you’re hosting or seeding.

Some people run ZeroNet over Tor — it works, but it’s clunky and not bulletproof.

💡 Bonus Trick: Combine Them

• Publish IPFS links on onion forums or mirrors.
• Use IPFS to store onion mirrors in case they go down.
• Create fully offline ZeroNet sites and distribute PGP-signed links via .onion pages.

Conclusion

ZeroNet and IPFS aren’t darknet in the traditional sense — they’re decentralized networks that can be adapted for anonymity.
They don’t replace Tor but offer different tools: censorship resistance, independence from DNS, offline content sharing.
True anonymity? Only with proper OPSEC, careful setup, and layered protection.