Internet Computer

Internet Computer is a blockchain network developed by the DFINITY Foundation, with its mainnet opened in 2021. Its aim is to let websites, backend services and data run directly on-chain without needing traditional cloud servers. ICP is the network's native token.

Applications run as smart contracts called canisters, which hold code and state together. The network is divided into subnets made up of nodes in independent data centers; thanks to chain-key cryptography, it can interact directly with chains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. ICP has two core functions: voting in the network's governance system, the Network Nervous System, by creating locked positions called neurons, and being converted into cycles, the unit that pays for computation and storage. In this reverse gas model, transaction costs are mostly borne by application developers rather than users.

ICP's market behavior may be shaped by factors such as the amount of tokens burned through conversion into cycles, new supply created by governance rewards, usage of applications moved onto the network and competition with centralized cloud providers. On Lzzo.com, the Internet Computer price is taken from the ICP/USDT pair on Binance and adjusted into dollars at Coinbase Exchange's USDT/USD rate; the chart also follows this dollar series.