Users spend SC for storage contracts, file contracts and most transactions involving either uploading or downloading of data on the Sia network. It is important to note that Sia itself is not a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive; rather, it is an incentive market where users compete with each other during transaction periods in order to secure file contracts.
There are three types of actors in Sia's economic model: host (those who sell their disk space), renter (those who rent storage space) and dataholder (those who keep the files for renters). The latter two categories use SC in all their transactions; this includes buying SC, spending SC on storage contracts and paying hosts iniacoin upon successfully storing their files.
Sia's main target market are individuals looking for cheap cloud storage, who are OK with reduced uptime in the face of decentralization or reduced redundancy. Hosts are mostly crypto-enthusiasts using Sia as a source of income and/or to increase their holdings. The only other alternative currently available would be StorJ , which offers similar functionality but is not yet fully decentralized or autonomous. The bottom line here is that with Sia one has the option to store data on either private servers (Storj) or public hosts (Sia). As more renters join the network, prices will decrease since hosts will compete with each other through pricing strategies. For now, the only drawback is that the network isn't as large as those of Dropbox or Amazon.
As stated in the previous question, SIACOIN tokens are used to pay for storage contracts, file contracts and most transactions on the Sia network. This includes buying SC, spending SC on storage contracts and paying hosts iniacoin upon successfully storing their files.
Decentralization: Unlike other cloud storage services (eg Dropbox, Amazon S3), where users need to trust the provider with access to their files, Sia allows users to encrypt, upload and distribute their data across multiple redundant hosts which makes it very difficult for malicious third parties to gain access without the user's permission.
Disintermediation: Sia is not a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive; rather, it is an incentive market where users compete with each other during transaction periods in order to secure file contracts. The only other alternative currently available would be StorJ , which offers similar functionality but is not yet fully decentralized or autonomous.
SIACOIN tokens are created through proof-of-work mining upon transactions on the Sia network. There will be around 4 times as many SC as there are SIACOIN tokens at any given moment. As more network users accumulate SC, the amount of storage available to renters will steadily increase, thereby reducing the likelihood that a host will not be able to collect its payment for storing files.
This growth in storage space availability is likely to have a positive feedback effect on price: over time, as more data becomes available and competition among hosts increases, prices should decline.
SIACOIN tokens are bought and sold on cryptocurrency exchanges just like any other ERC20 token . It can also be mined by hosts building contracts with renters which reward them for storing files on the network. This reward comes in addition to whatever fees renters pay for their storage space.
You can buy SIACOIN tokens on cryptocurrency exchanges like Bittrex and Poloniex. Once you have some BTC or ETH, go to one of those exchanges and use your BTC or ETH to trade for SC; there is a small fee (0.1%) associated with each transaction you make on the exchange.
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