|=[ DEEP DIVE :: FILEVERSE ]=
FILEVERSE
DOCUMENTS · NOT FINANCEThe Ethereum ecosystem's answer to Google Docs: a document editor that's end-to-end encrypted, local-first, open source, and usable with no account at all. The decentralised world computer, pointed at collaboration instead of money.
PUBLIC BETA — dDOCS SINCE 07.2024 · dSHEETS 06.2025
HOW IT WORKS
Google Docs and Sheets, but better.
Open ddocs.new or dsheets.new and type, with no account. Everything is encrypted on your device before it leaves it (AES file keys, wrapped per reader). Without an account, your work lives only in your browser and Fileverse collects nothing about you. In dSheets, a cell can also hold a data block: query DeFi protocols, CoinGecko, Dune, Etherscan, or even submit a transaction.
Invite by email, wallet or ENS across six permission levels. Your identity goes into an encrypted list; access checks run through vOPRF and Merkle proofs, so the server confirms permission without learning who asked.
Real-time editing relays encrypted Y.js updates through a WebSocket server that can read none of them. Editors get UCAN credentials after a Semaphore proof. The collab server is self-hostable.
There are two ways to exit:
A backup key plus the walkaway page: a static open-source page that fetches your encrypted docs from IPFS and decrypts them locally, even if Fileverse is gone.
ZK social recovery: guardians approve account recovery without revealing who they are, on Gnosis.
TRADE OFFS
Mostly private with some exceptions.
METADATA ISN'T CONTENT
With an account, Fileverse collect document metadata etc. Without an account they collect nothing.
THE BROWSER IS THE TRUST POINT
There's no native app, so the E2E guarantee rides on JavaScript served fresh each session — the classic browser-crypto weak point. Open source and the walkaway page mitigate it; there's no reproducible-build proof. P2P features also expose your IP to network peers, per their own policy.
CONTRACTS UNAUDITED, PRODUCT IN BETA
Their product is still in beta and not for production yet. Use at your own risk.
VS THE GOOGLE ECOSYSTEM
dDocs and dSheets against Docs, Sheets and everything around them — including the rows where Google wins.
| DDOCS + DSHEETS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PRICE | Free | Free with a Google account (15 GB pooled); Workspace €6.80–21.10/user/mo |
| ACCOUNT | None needed; optional ENS / wallet / email | Google account required |
| E2E ENCRYPTION | Default, keys on your device | Paid enterprise tiers only; Google holds keys otherwise |
| WHO CAN READ IT | Not the provider | Google, under its abuse-review policies |
| METADATA SEEN | File size, collaborators, timestamps (account users); nothing without an account | Everything |
| AI TRAINING | None; local opt-in LLM only | Consumer Gemini: default-on training use + human review (opt-out exists); Workspace excluded |
| LOCKOUT RISK | No content policy to enforce; walkaway page if the company dies | Documented: 2017 mass lockout bug, account-level suspensions since |
| OFFLINE | Built-in, local-first | Chrome/Edge + extension + pre-setup |
| MOBILE | Browser only, no native app | Native iOS / Android apps |
| EXPORT | Markdown, PDF | docx, odt, rtf, pdf, txt, html, epub, md |
| CHAIN DATA | Cells query DeFi, CoinGecko, Dune, Etherscan; submit transactions | N/A |
| ENTERPRISE | N/A | Vault, DLP, eDiscovery, data regions, SLA |
| MATURITY | Beta / Not for Production (yet) | ~20 years old, billions of users |
THE COMPANY
Small, funded, and deliberately not counting you.
PEOPLE + MONEY
Fileverse Limited, UK company, incorporated 04.2022 by Andreas Tsamados (Oxford Internet Institute) and Vijay Krishnavanshi. $1.5M pre-seed (10.2023, Gnosis Chain and Factor, with Safe, Mask Network, Arweave and Balaji Srinivasan), plus Ethereum Foundation and Gitcoin grants with 14,000+ donors.
NO USER NUMBERS, BY DESIGN
Asked how many people use dDocs, Tsamados's answer was: we don't know, by design. There are no adoption metrics to cite because the company refuses to collect them. The product line is wider than docs: the original Portal (token-gated workspaces), dSheets with onchain data blocks, an E2E API for agents.
Evaluating Fileverse but not sure if it fits your product? Talk to Ben.
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