Internet Computer PRICE USD CHART

The DFINITY Foundation incubated and deployed the Internet Computer, a general-purpose blockchain, in May 2021. The Internet Computer (ICP) is a general-purpose blockchain built by the DFINITY Foundation. It was launched in 2021 to support smart contract development and hosting dApps to become the ‘global computer.’ To accomplish this ambition, the Internet Computer can increase the transaction throughput and storage on-chain as demand for its block space increases.

Internet Computer’s objective is to transform the public internet into a world-class computing platform. Given its open-source, permissionless, and decentralized nature and impressive features and functionalities, the developers describe the Internet Computer as a revolutionary network. Furthermore, ICP provides nearly infinite scalability and a high level of security through a system of checks, allowing smart contracts to function at web speed with lower computing costs in a borderless environment.

ICP is the native utility token of the Internet Computer network. ICP tokens can be burned and turned into cycles, aka gas, on the network. Developers and users can use this to pay for computing and storage fees for their decentralized apps operating on the network. Furthermore, the ICP token is important for the network’s governance since ICP token holders can stake ICP in the Network Nervous System (NNS) to establish “Neurons” that vote on governance proposals and receive voting rewards.

The Internet Computer aims to provide a simple alternative for developers to construct, host, and serve programs in a decentralized manner, allowing websites to be distributed directly onto the public internet. The protocol is made up of the following key components that function together:

• Internet Computer Consensus (ICC) – This is a novel consensus mechanism that divides the network into four layers –  a notary layer, blockchain layer, random beacon layer, and identity layer.
• Chain Key Cryptography – This is the engine that powers the Internet Computer. It enables the addition of additional nodes and the formation of new subnets, allowing the network to expand indefinitely. It orchestrates the nodes that make up the Internet Computer using different encrypted protocols.
• Network Nervous System (NNS) – The Internet Computer is managed through the Network Nervous Mechanism (NNS), a tokenized open governance system. It keeps track of which nodes belong to which subnet and manages the information’s updates.
• Neurons – Neurons enable users to vote on governance ideas that improve the network by staking their ICP utility tokens. Voting on ideas earns users incentives ranging from 11 percent to 22 percent annualized returns.  
• Cycles – Cycles are the computing resource, or ‘gas,’ needed to conduct network tasks.
• Canisters Smart Contracts – A smart contract in a canister is a development of traditional, restricted first-generation smart contracts. WebAssembly code and memory makeup canisters and here, unlike conventional blockchains, developers pay for cycles, guaranteeing that consumers are not charged for gas and removing a key adoption hurdle.
• Motoko – Motoko is a new programming language for creating web applications on the Internet Computer. 

Dominic Williams founded Internet Computer in October 2016. Early members of the Ethereum community showed significant interest in the project, and many of them contributed financially. Later, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, SV Angel, Aspect Ventures, Electric Capital, ZeroEx, Scalar Capital, and Multicoin Capital participated in the funding rounds of ICP. Overall, the team raised $121 million from all contributors.

The team conducted an airdrop in 2018 to reward the early users and community members. During the airdrop, approximately 50,000 registered participants got the ICP tokens.

On December 18, 2020, the alpha mainnet of the Internet Computer was launched. After this, the final iterations were made, and on May 10, 2021, the Internet Computer was launched into the public domain. According to DFINITY, the public launch was the final step toward decentralizing the Internet Computer. At the time of launch, the Internet Computer network was supported by 48 independent nodes or data centers spread across the world.

The Internet Computer blockchain is built to consistently handle many updates and transactions without sacrificing speed, security, sovereignty, or decentralization. It has nearly infinite scalability and a high level of security that is maintained by a mechanism of multiple checks in the system.

The system that regulates and safeguards the Internet Computer is the Network Nervous System (NNS). It performs multiple tasks such as maintaining the security of the network by applying constant security checks, upgrading the nodes to regularly update the protocol, modifying the economic setting, or constructing additional subnet blockchains to boost network capacity.

However, online theft and fraud are often conducted not by attacking the blockchain network but by targeting users’ online/hot wallets to expose their private keys. Such malicious actors trick users into revealing their private keys or attack their system with malware.

Hardware/cold wallets overcome this vulnerability by storing private keys in physical storage devices cut off from the web and, therefore, out of the reach of malicious actors.

Prominent cryptocurrencies like ICP are available on many centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges (DEXs). CEX users compromise complete ownership over their crypto assets, as they do not have access to the private keys of the wallets holding their funds. Most CEXs also require KYC information these days, which is not ideal for people seeking privacy over their online activity.

DEXs are ideal for investors who prefer privacy and ownership over their assets. However, there are still some loose ends on the security front when online wallets are used, as they may expose their private keys resulting in thefts and frauds. 

A Ledger hardware wallet saves your private keys offline and thus makes your crypto assets inaccessible for anyone except you in the event of a computer hack. 

The Ledger Live app gives the option to manage 1800+ coins and tokens from a smartphone or desktop, making the system extremely convenient. Follow the simple steps below to manage (send/receive and stake) ICP on a Ledger wallet: 

1. Get a Ledger hardware wallet.
2. Download and install Ledger web or mobile application.
3. Connect the Ledger app with the Ledger hardware wallet.
4. Install the Internet Computer application from the app catalog.
5. Start sending/receiving ICP using Ledger Live.