# The FIL token

## Uses

FIL plays a vital role in incentivizing users to participate in the Filecoin network and ensuring its smooth operation. Here are some ways in which FIL is used on the Filecoin network:

### Network payments

When a user wants to store data on the Filecoin network, they pay in FIL to the storage providers who offer their storage space. The payment is made in advance, for a certain amount of time that the data will be stored on the network.

In addition, storage providers choose their own terms and payment mechanisms for providing storage and retrieval services so other options (such as fiat payments) can be available.

### Blockchain rewards

Storage providers are also rewarded with FIL for providing their storage space and performing other useful tasks on the network. FIL is used to reward storage providers who validate and add new blocks to the Filecoin blockchain. Providers receive a block reward in FIL for each new block they add to the blockchain and also earn transaction fees in FIL for processing storage and retrieval transactions.

### Governance

As members of the Filecoin community, FIL holders are encouraged to participate in the Filecoin governance process. They can do so by proposing, deliberating, designing, and/or contributing to consensus for network changes, alongside other stakeholders in the Filecoin community- including implementers, Core Devs, storage providers, and other ecosystem partners. Learn more about the [Filecoin Governance process](https://fil.org/governance).

## Denominations

FIL, NanoFIL, and PicoFIL are all denominated in the same cryptocurrency unit, but they represent different levels of precision and granularity. For most users, FIL is the main unit of measurement and is used for most transactions and payments on the Filecoin network.

Much like how a US penny represents a fraction of a US dollar, there are many ways to represent value using Filecoin. This is because some actions on the Filecoin network require substantially less value than one whole `FIL`. The different denominations of `FIL` you may see referenced across the ecosystem are:

| Name     | Decimal                   |
| -------- | ------------------------- |
| FIL      | 1                         |
| milliFIL | 1,000                     |
| microFIL | 1,000,000                 |
| nanoFIL  | 1,000,000,000             |
| picoFIL  | 1,000,000,000,000         |
| femtoFIL | 1,000,000,000,000,000     |
| attoFIL  | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 |

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