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was the creation of the internet and was mainly limited to reading for users.
Throughout the years, we have seen Web2, which is the current iteration of the internet today, enabling both read and write access. It is known for introducing social media, digital content, and advertising. However, with the proliferation of data came concerns about security and privacy, with most of this data remaining at the discretion of centralized organizations.
aims to address the limitations of Web2 by decentralizing control and ownership of the internet and its services, placing it in the hands of users, developers, and contributors. This is achieved primarily through leveraging blockchain technology, which allows for decentralized information and computing. To fully realize the potential of Web3, applications must be decentralized at every level, ensuring no single entity has control.
Integrating identity through systems like Internet Identity
Enabling native payments
Fostering the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)
Promoting a "read, write, and own" model of the internet
The Internet Computer aims to be a general-purpose blockchain that embodies the ideals of Web3. It is designed to replace Web2 or traditional information technology (IT) with a whole suite of Web3 services that can run solely from the blockchain.
The Internet Computer (ICP) was incubated and launched by the DFINITY Foundation in May 2021.
It is the fastest, most efficient, and only infinitely scalable general-purpose Layer 1 blockchain.
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It is a World Computer blockchain that can host anything from a social network to a large enterprise system — removing the need for traditional centralized IT.
Reverse Gas Model
End-users do not pay gas fees for using DApps and web services on ICP.
Safe and Reliable
There has been 0 significant downtime for the past 1.5 years that ICP has been operating.
Cheap and lightning-fast transactions
Applications on ICP are built for scalability, operating at lightning-fast completion speeds.
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Certified Greenest Blockchain
The energy consumption of one transaction on ICP is equivalent to just nearly 2 Google searches!
Cycles
Computations for canisters (dApps/smart contracts) are powered by cycles, similar to Ethereum's gas.
Canisters pay cycles for storage which roughly costs around just $5 per gigabyte a year for on-chain data storage cost.
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Interoperability with Web2 sites
Through HTTPS outcalls, smart contracts are able to interact with websites and web services outside of the blockchain network, eliminating the need for oracles.
Novel Consensus Mechanism
Proof-of-Useful-Work (PoUW) is the Internet Computer's innovative approach to network participation, involving dedicated hardware known as node machines running sophisticated consensus protocols without traditional hashing.
Unlike Proof-of-Work (PoW), PoUW is more efficient because it reaches consensus quickly and does not require a lot of electricity.
Unlike Proof-of-Stake (PoS), PoUW is more secure because it requires hardware and does not run in remote (cloud) infrastructure.
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Canister Smart Contracts
ICP smart contracts are known as canisters. They are like upgraded versions of regular smart contracts. They combine code and data, offering developers the flexibility to create diverse applications, from web services to decentralized exchanges. They can be written in different programming languages, not just one.
Canisters have two types of actions: one for reading data and another for changing it. They're better than regular smart contracts at managing resources like computing power and storage, making them more efficient.
The Internet Identity is a privacy-focused authentication framework on ICP. It works with WebAuthn, a secure authentication framework supported by modern browsers and operating systems.
Users can link passkeys to their Internet Identity and use secure hardware like TPM chips for authentication instead of passwords or 2FA. This framework ensures privacy using chain-key cryptography, which generates a unique ID for each dApp a user logs into. This prevents user tracking across different applications and keeps each session private.
Participation and Staking
The Network Nervous System (NNS) is a DAO that governs the ICP by letting ICP token holders stake their tokens to vote on proposals and earn voting rewards. This is essential for shaping the future of the platform, as stakeholders decide on protocol updates and improvements. Check out the NNS here.
Staking
Staking on the Internet Computer involves token holders locking up their ICP tokens for a certain period to gain voting power and earn rewards. When tokens are staked, they are placed in a special account called a neuron, which has its own set of attributes. Neurons can vote on proposals impacting the Internet Computer's future, and active participation in governance earns rewards that are distributed daily.
Factors affecting voting power include the stake amount, lockup duration, and neuron age.
Payment
The ICP token is used to pay entities that provide compute capacity by operating node machines (node providers).
Conversion
The ICP can also be converted into cycles (XTC), which are used as fuel for computation on the network – especially for running and using DApps.
Token Allocation
To engage in presales of other tokens on ICP, participants have the option to use their ICP tokens for acquiring an allocation.
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OpenChat is a decentralized messaging platform that operates in real-time. It is entirely on the blockchain, enabling users to send cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, to one another. Additionally, users can own a portion of OpenChat by acquiring CHAT tokens. Think Telegram, but users can own it.
Join more than 500 dApps built on the Internet Computer!
How to build dApps on the Internet Computer?
Here are some resources for programming languages to start with
Participation in DFINITY forums and developer communities is also encouraged
Chain Key cryptography helps users verify messages from the Internet Computer, ensuring they're genuine
Each node hosting a canister signs messages jointly, using secret key shares. This creates verifiable signatures with the Internet Computer's public key.
To scale, nodes are grouped into subnets, each with its own public key. Nodes in a subnet have secret key shares, allowing them to collectively sign messages.
This setup simplifies validation, as only the Internet Computer's public key is needed. In contrast, Ethereum's validation process requires downloading large amounts of data, which grows over time.
Chain-key Bitcoin (ckBTC) is a token on the Internet Computer backed 1:1 by Bitcoin. It allows conversion between ckBTC and BTC without relying on third-party bridges.
While ckBTC and regular BTC have the same value, ckBTC is faster and cheaper when it comes to transfers. They take only a few seconds to complete and only cost 0.0000001 ckBTC.
Chain-key Ethereum (ckETH) is a token backed 1:1 by ETH allowing for ETH to ckETH conversion without bridges, just like ckBTC.
Through ckETH, faster and cheaper ETH transactions are also achieved.
+92% YoY growth in the number of active developers in the ecosystem
Featured as a major player in the “Top 50” report by Crypto Valley
Dominic Williams is the Founder and Chief Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation
100,000+ academic citations
With a background as a crypto theorist and was previously an entrepreneur in engineering, where he developed various internet technologies and products.
1600+ research papers
He has been active in the blockchain industry since 2013.
250+ technical patents
Serves as a central hub for the adoption of ICP and Web3 technologies within the country. Their initiatives extend to nurturing and educating aspiring developers who aim to contribute to the ecosystem. These efforts include programs like iThink Code Camp & iThink Hackathon.
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