FIL, which once touted its challenge to cloud storage giants, has seen its market capitalization slump by 99%, falling from around $237 in April 2021 to about $2. During the same period, a certain Layer 2 solution attracted over 400 project deployments within three months, showcasing a stark contrast in ecosystem vitality. What this reflects behind the scenes is actually the most genuine logic of capital choice.

In the past week, a large number of FIL miners have shut down and left the scene. The departure of these participants, who once contributed computing power, indicates one issue: the hardware mining model is undergoing an unprecedented crisis.

In contrast, Linea under Consensys presents a different picture. Developers are continuously flocking in, the TVL is steadily increasing, and the entire ecosystem appears vibrant.

**1. The Triple Crisis Behind the Collapsing Empire**

The problem with Filecoin is not something that has accumulated overnight. Falling from a historical high of $237 all the way down to $2, with 99% of its market capitalization evaporated, there is a systemic crisis at play.

The fatal flaw lies in the economic model. Approximately 200,000 FIL are added daily, but only about 2,000 are destroyed each day—an open inflow with a blocked outflow. Miners are caught in a vicious cycle: they have to sell what they mine, or they cannot cover hardware and electricity costs.

The implementation of technology is even more disappointing. Although the actual storage capacity of the network has reached 23EiB, the truly paid data is less than 5%. A large number of miners fill their hard drives with invalid data, with the sole purpose of harvesting block rewards, rather than genuinely providing storage services. This model has been off track from the very beginning.