A problem with file sharing networks is that (most) people don't stay online to share. They just download what they need and then disconnect, leaving the network dead with low files availability.

The bittorrent ecosystem has ratio on trackers as an incentive but it's also considered problematic for people with low bandwidth or low reactivity, who often get preempted by fast seeders and so cannot easily increase their ratio.

To help with this problem we could individually have the option to give access to some groups, to people staying connected long enough, as a "proof of stake" (to use some blockchain lingo).

As an exemple: if I'm connected 24/7, and I witness someone in a chat room connected on average "8 hours per day during the last week" they would automatically get access to a VIP group with additional files available to them. If at a later time that person doesn't fulfill those requirements anymore they would be removed from the group. If needed they would be notified of the rules when they try to download a file.

That would be an efficient and very easy incentive to fulfill, to encourage people to gain and keep that VIP access and to stay connected to share. Of course, this is just a basic example and that idea could certainly be improved.

And if that cannot be implemented in the client software, it would be great to have a library API so to code bots that can implement that feature.

I think another interesting feature would be "unlockables" or challenges. For example, if you reach a ratio of 0.5 you get a small medal on your UI, if you reach 0.75 it gives you another one, with 2 you get another medal... There should be an option to browse other user medals in the chat.