• DFINITY backed Internet Computer is the first blockchain that runs at web speed with unbounded capacity.
• Dominic Williams, the founder of Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) and Chief scientist at DFINITY, has always been an advocate of ‘the perfect blockchain’ and ICP is fast becoming the technology of the future.
• Chain Key Technology is an innovation by Internet Computer, which enables it to run millions of nodes at scale.
• At the time of writing, Internet Computer Protocol trades at $65.89 having seen a 12% decline in the space of 24 hours.

The race to find the perfect blockchain has been going on since the initial release of the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008. Though the Bitcoin blockchain was the first, the Ethereum blockchain has become the most popular platform for D-apps and DeFi solutions.

The inception of Internet Computer began in 2016 with Dominic Williams’ vision of creating the world’s first frictionless blockchain running at web speed on which “everything is connected and composable.”

The DFINITY foundation made Internet Computer open-source in May 2021 as a part of the public internet. Incubated and launched by the DFINITY foundation, which has the brightest minds in cryptography and programming language, Internet Computer may become the leading blockchain in just a few years.

The Mechanisms and Development of the Internet Computer

Internet Computer is a digital token that runs on the Internet Computer Protocol and is intended to facilitate the building of software without the use of the services of Google and Facebook. Developers can now build an “open internet” at a reduced cost in a “hack-free system”.

Chain key technology has been the game-changer that Internet Computer thrives on, giving the platform a single public key. It allows any device, including smartwatches, to verify artifacts, unlike Ethereum, which requires a large amount of processing power to carry out verification.

Developers can build anything, from specialized DeFi solutions, to tokenized social media that runs on-chain. The Internet Computer is supported by data centres across the world. At the time of writing there are 48 independent data centres which are currently running 1,300 nodes.

The Internet Computer is a technology that has taken DeFi, and the cryptoverse at large, by storm. At the time of writing, the price of ICP is $65.89 and is ranked 17th by CoinMarketCap with a market capitalization of over $8.4 billion, and a supply of 128,985,798 ICP coins in circulation.

Internet Computer is so far traded on top exchanges like Binance, OKEx, and Huobi Global among others.

On the Flipside

• Internet Computer is growing in popularity at a time when the much anticipated ETH 2.0 is on the cusp of release.
• There is also Cardano’s Alonzo mainnet, and Solana’s push to become the ETH killer.
• Internet Computer have been struggling in the market recently, losing 12% over a 24 hour period.

The Community

Just like every other DeFi solution, Internet Computer has a strong and ever-growing community, which operates through its native governance token.

Token holders participate in the governance of the platform through voting, they can lock tokens to create neurons and earn a passive income as a type of ‘farming.’

The network mints new ICP tokens to reward the community and to incentivize those members who play an important role in the growth of ICP, such as those participating in governance, creating neurons, and other miscellaneous functions. A reward is also given to those operating a node machine which hosts the network.