BIC’s Video News Show: Internet Computer’s Huge Potential
3 min readTable of Contents
In this episode of the BeInCrypto video news show, host Jessica Walker takes a look at Internet Computer. Even with its price down 92% after debuting during an inopportune period, we think this one is worth exploring, both as a blockchain project and a coin.
What is Internet Computer?
If we had to describe Internet Computer in one phrase, we would call it a ‘decentralized version of the internet.’ Unlike the web we all use now, which revolves around a few tech companies, Internet Computer (ICP) allows all users to create apps, websites and other web-based services.
One way to think of it is as a decentralized computer network that could run a new or different version of apps on the web. For this reason, the project’s founder says it has the capacity to challenge internet titans such as Google, Facebook and Amazon Web Services. And given its highly decentralized network, Internet Computer can scale its capacity with increases in demand,
It might be more useful to think of Internet Computer as less of a cryptocurrency and more as a network that uses blockchain technology to power apps. The project is run by the Dfinity Foundation, who also created cryptocurrency powering this decentralized internet.
Instant popularity
Upon its initial release, Internet Computer almost instantly reached a top 10 crypto spot, though now residing at 18th. There were a few factors behind this.
First was the potential of the project, which was quickly understood by the crypto community. There are many ambitious projects out there like Cardano and Polygon, and this one is right up there with them. It’s founder, Dominic Williams, claims that the speed of the cryptocurrency, its ability to scale quickly and its ability to drastically reduce computing costs will make it possible to take on some of the biggest tech names. It’s also backed by many big-name investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, a top venture capital firm, and Polychain Capital, which specializes in venture capital for crypto.
What makes it unique?
So how does Internet Computer stand out from other projects out there? The main thing is perhaps the possibility for anyone to create software on the internet. The technology allows anyone to use its blockchain technology to create apps and lets them do an end-run around the big tech companies.
Another important point is that it runs on a decentralized network, not the cloud. Unlike many other blockchains, Internet Computer runs on dedicated hardware set up by independent parties. This was the original selling point when Dfinity started raising money in 2018.
It’s also fast. Completing transactions using some cryptocurrencies may take 30 minutes or more. ICP boasts that its crypto operates at web speed and can finalize transactions in three to five seconds.
ETH linkup and community control
It seems the public debut of Internet Computer and its coin crashing haven’t slowed its team down. Dominic Williams recently announced that they will integrate with the ETH network, which could act as a catalyst for adoption.
Dfinity also addressed doubts about how decentralized it truly was, as well as some privacy issues. They announced that the community now controls 60% of the network’s voting power and that that percentage will grow, as more ICP tokens are distributed and staked.
Recap
Even though Internet Computer has dropped out of the top 10 and doesn’t seem to be recovering as quickly as others, this is a project that has scalability baked in.
With a strong team, financial backing, and many potential partnerships, this is definitely one blockchain we’ll keep an eye on.
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