Shipyard winds down IPFS work as Protocol Labs ends funding

The engineering collective responsible for keeping core IPFS infrastructure running just got its pink slip. Shipyard, the independent group that has maintained key implementations of the InterPlanetary File System since early 2024, announced that Protocol Labs will not renew its funding, effectively ending all IPFS-related work by September 30, 2026. The decision leaves a string of widely used open-source projects, including Kubo, Helia, Boxo, and Rainbow, without dedicated maintainers. Protocol Labs, the original creator of IPFS, will take back operational control of critical public services like ipfs.io and dweb.link. What Shipyard actually did Shipyard was formed in early 2024 after Protocol Labs made a deliberate push to decentralize the governance of IPFS and its networking layer, libp2p. The idea was straightforward: hand operational responsibility to an independent collective so the protocol’s maintenance wouldn’t depend on a single corporate entity’s priorities. During its roughly two-year run, the collective delivered measurable results. Gateway traffic capacity increased by approximately 300%, while operating costs were slashed by around 80%. Shipyard also managed the tra...