Internet Computer $ICP Wiki: Coin History, Techstack, and Crypto News

Internet Computer is a development of the not-for-profit organization DFINITY Foundation. Internet computer is a public blockchain network based on the Internet Computer Protocol.

The internet computer is among the fastest and the most scalable general-purpose blockchains. The currency native to this blockchain is the ICP which is a governance token that can be used to pay fees during the creation of websites, apps, and similar web-based services. The goal of the Internet Computer is to find a way to recreate the internet but in a more decentralized form in order to challenge or replace companies and web providers such as Facebook, Amazon Web Services, and Google.

History of Internet Computer

The idea behind the Internet Computer was conceived by Dominic Williams in 2015. The idea was for a worldwide computer that cannot be shut down. DFINITY was founded in October 2016 by Williams. Prominent venture capital firms like Polychain Capital, Wanxiang Blockchain, Andreesen Horowitz, and SV angel financed DFINITY for under 10% of the governance tokens in  February 2018. DFINITY earned $61 million during the funding round and $102 million more in August 2018, bringing the funding for the project to $195 million.

The Internet Computer has been developed through various versions named copper, bronze, tungsten, sodium, and mercury. Tungsten was introduced in June 2020  and allowed third-party developers to use the platform to develop apps for both web and smartphones. The Sodium version created in September 2020 allowed for a governance system for the Internet Computer called the Network Nervous System (NNS).

The Internet Computer Network made their tokens, known as ICP tokens, freely transferable in May 2021. The network has over 500 developers and around 250,000 users in July 2021.

Biggest Claim to Fame

Internet Computer managed to bag big investors at its foundation. Andreesen Horowitz for example is one of the biggest venture capital firms in the world. Polychain Capital, another early investor, specializes in providing venture capital for crypto. The fact that Internet Computer was able to bag such big investors that early into their foundation says a lot about the idea behind the company. It also encouraged other big investors to put their money in Internet Computers so as not to be left out in case the returns on investment ended up being high.

Anyone can create software using the Internet Computer platform and network. The technology the blockchain uses allows developers to use it to create apps for both the web and smartphones. They do not consider their technology patented so any developer could create an app on the platform and earn from it.

Smart contracts on the Internet Computer are divided into secure code units that serve as individual functions or applications. This means that users are able to interact with the code units through an entry point and are able to use it as they use the internet we have currently.

Biggest Criticism

During the decrease in price that happened around June 2021, nearly fifty of the biggest holders of the ICP visited exchanges to deposit over 10 million of the ICP tokens. This happened just before the fall in the price of the ICP tokens was made public. This type of manipulation in the value and insider information of currency was what blockchains and cryptocurrencies were created to prevent so the fact that it still happened was discouraging to see.

Team

Dominic Williams is the creator of DFINITY Foundation which is the parent company to Internet Computer. He is a crypto theoretician and a social entrepreneur with a focus on distributed systems and the internet. He is currently the President and Chief Scientist at DFINITY.

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