What is Web3 and the innovative Blockchain ICP created by DFINITY Foundation.
EASY-TO-READ guide for a non-expert. What is DFINITY Foundation, Web3 and Internet Computer Protocol (ICP)
Summary:
In this article, I explain to a non-technical and non-expert why Internet Computer Protocol blockchain led by DFINITY Foundation has the potential to be the disruptive innovation on the internet giving context about web3 foundations. The article is not technical, it’s for general knowledge purpose, in order to make the curious people (like you) reading the possibility to understand DFINITY Internet Computer Protocol and Web3.
Intro: DFINITY and web3 Blockchain industry
DFINITY Internet Computer Protocol could be the next big revolution in the web3 Internet. What? Why? ….wen moon? I explain you in simple words what you have just read.
DFINITY is the non-profit foundation working on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) blockchain.
You can’t say that ICP is DFINITY’s because that’s not accurate.
Internet Computer Protocol is a decentralized permissionless blockchain: by definition, therefore, it does not have an owner but has governance, which anyone who wants can participate in. DFINITY is the leading foundation that gave birth to and contributes to the development of the protocol.
If you don’t know the web3 blockchain industry well, you can imagine it as the foundation of the internet apps, sites, socials, with a parliament, but without proprietary servers, switching from few people owning the majority of things on the web to auto-governed community-based internet.
Web2 vs Web3: the differences
The web2 (the one we are currently surfing) is made up of servers and databases that have an owner: they are those computers turned on somewhere in the world that keep facebook, instagram and any other site on the internet active.
For example, a user (let’s say I) talks to the Facebook server and it responds back to me. So I (the user) can use the server as a mediator to get in touch with other people who talk to the server.
The web3 is formed by the blockchain: which is a public register of immutable data in which validating computers (nodes) can write through scientific mechanisms of consensus. The individual (node) is therefore not owner, but is part of a group that gives the ok to the input that I, user, send.
For example, a user talks to the blockchain and the blockchain responds to me. So I (the user) can navigate on a platform (dApp, site…) using as mediator not a single owner but a multitude of connected computers that keep this blockchain active.
Also, data is stored randomly with encryption mechanisms (the same technology that makes passwords secure) not on a proprietary server but in the blockchain so no single user can trace certain information.
What is fascinating is that web3 allows for the creation of internet realities without an owner but with public governance where decisions are put to a community vote.
This puts the community and the users of the platform at the center of decisions and takes power away from the few who own most of the internet ecosystems. The social benefits of web3 will be discussed more at a later date.
Limits of most of the Blockchain
The majority of blockchains have a limited capacity of computation and size, moreover, to use them there are fees (gas-fees): simplistically I user talk to this blockchain and it responds slowly, moreover it asks me to pay a fee to do so. In addition, being of limited size to store so much information is very difficult and expensive.
It’s enough to power the Decentralized Finance since it can be stored in small amount of data, but for powering all the web3 ecosystem it is not enough.
In the most famous blockchain, in fact, only small fractions of information are stored, creating a hybrid ecosystem between web2 and web3. A part of the information is decentralized on web3, the other part is uploaded on a cloud in web2.
Clouds (I think you’ve heard of them) are always someone’s (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon). So Blockchain like Ethereum creates margins of decentralization but is always limited by many other actors.
The potentiality of DFINITY Internet Computer Protocol
Internet Computer Protocol developed by DFINITY Foundation, on the other hand, has no size limits, has the best computation capacity in the whole market and uses a reverse gas-fees model: in a nutshell, I user talk to this blockchain and it responds to me quickly without asking for a fee in return.
The gas-fees are paid by the one who installs a platform (dapp, site…) inside the blockchain. It’s the same logic of web2: who creates a site pays a hosting fee to keep it active.
Being fast and not having size limits, inside this blockchain I can upload any kind of file: a site, a dapp defi or not, a management system, a company database, a whole metaverse (maybe even costing less than web2 solutions).
This would mean that my data, information, my images, sites, applications are not in a computer somewhere in the world owned by an external person but they are encrypted in a parliament of computer which cannot go back to the information.
This solution has benefits both in terms of ease of management, using a single solution rather than many Cloud infrastructures, and in terms of security by reducing the attack points for any hackers, and in terms of usability: natively integrating NFTs, crypto transactions etc…
Also, this blockchain is integrating the other cryptos within itself: meaning you can use your $BTC (from May 2022), your $ETH(Q3 2022) and your other tokens (Q4 2022) safely with no bridge(as the other blockchain do, that is a weak point for hacking attacks).
All of this makes this Internet Computer Protocol, captained by DFINITY Foundation a truly innovative and disruptive project, because it can create so many opportunities across multiple industries: from companies that want an IT infrastructure, to public metaverse, public social networks, and so much more.
DFINITY Foundation is serious. It has offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Zurich. Most of the employees come from large multinational tech companies. Before making big marketing moves it is building an ecosystem of R&D, developers and more.
P.s. if you are a developer or aspiring developer, there are currently great opportunities for you and a hackathon with 6m$ up for grabs.
If you are not a developer there are other community-building opportunities.
That’s it! I hope I truly let you understand more about web3 limits of most blockchain and DFINITY Internet Computer Protocol potential :)
I am Paolo, I am a web3, crypto and ICP enthusiast.
I will write more about ICP and web3 here and on my twitter account. Reach me out if you need any help or you want to chat.
https://twitter.com/pinoweb3
