Juan Benet (computer scientist)
Juan Benet is an American computer scientist. He is the Founder & CEO of Protocol Labs, a computer networks research and development company. He is best known for creating the InterPlanetary File System - an open-source, peer-to-peer decentralized web protocol, and Filecoin - a cryptotoken-incentivized file storage network.
From January 2010 to December 2011, Benet was CTO of Loki Studios, leading development on the location-based multiplayer mobile game Geomon. The firm was eventually acquired by Yahoo! in May, 2013.
Benet founded Protocol Labs in May 2014 and went through Y-Combinator in summer 2014 to support development of IPFS, Filecoin, and other projects. Since the launch of IPFS, he has developed other protocols at Protocol Labs including libp2p, a modular network stack for peer-to-peer apps and systems; IPLD, a data model for interoperable protocols; Multiformats, a collection of protocols to future-proof systems; CoinList, a token sale and investment platform; and the SAFT Project, a legal framework for token fundraising.
In 2018, Benet was named one of Fortune magazine's "40 under 40," recognized for his work creating IPFS.