Internet Computer (ICP)

System: Internet Computer — Blockspace Production

Internet Computer is a general-purpose Layer 1 blockchain that provides canister smart-contract execution, persistent state, storage, bandwidth and web-serving capacity to developers and applications. Mainnet launched in 2021; the system uses WebAssembly smart contracts, called canisters, distributed across subnets run by specialised node machines. The system boundary includes the public Internet Computer network, subnets, canisters, Internet Computer Protocol ledger, cycles mechanics, registry records, Network Nervous System governance canisters, node providers, node operators and API boundary nodes used for network access.

Market Data

Price$2.27
Market Cap$1.26B
Fully Diluted Valuation$1.26B
30d Change-10.70%
365d Change-49.20%

Token Functionalities

Governance

  • Economic Design/Parameter Control (Unilateral)

    Right to set or amend Network Nervous System-controlled economic parameters, including node reward tables, transaction fees, proposal reject costs, minimum neuron stake, Internet Computer Protocol/XDR reference settings and voting-power economics. The right is activated by staking ICP tokens in Network Nervous System neurons. Strength is Unilateral for the evidenced on-chain economic objects because adopted proposals are executed through Network Nervous System-controlled canisters.

  • Technical Parameter Control (Partial)

    Right to approve or direct Network Nervous System-controlled canister upgrades, Internet Computer operating system version election, operating system deployment and protocol software changes. The right is activated by staking ICP tokens in Network Nervous System neurons. Strength is Partial because canister changes have direct Network Nervous System execution paths, while core Layer 1 software deployment also depends on node-machine execution by approved operators.

  • Process and Meta Parameter Control (Unilateral)

    Right to modify Network Nervous System governance-process settings and related meta parameters, including default followees, known-neuron records and voting-process economics. The right is activated by staking ICP tokens in Network Nervous System neurons. Strength is Unilateral for executable Network Nervous System settings.

  • Actor Set Permissioning (Unilateral)

    Right to appoint, remove or configure privileged actor records, including node providers, data centres, node operators, node machines and subnet membership. The right is activated by staking ICP tokens in Network Nervous System neurons. Strength is Unilateral for registry and admission records because adopted proposals update the relevant Network Nervous System-controlled records, while physical operation remains participant-based after admission.

Payments

  • Prepaid Credit

    Right to convert or burn ICP tokens into cycles for specified future Internet Computer services, including canister creation, computation, storage and bandwidth. Cycles are the folded prepaid-credit mechanism, not a separate profiled token, because they function as internal resource credits created from ICP token conversion.

  • General Medium of Exchange [Exogenous]

    Right to discharge payment obligations to willing Service Nervous System DAO counterparties by committing ICP in 'decentralisation swaps' for newly issued or staked Service Nervous System governance tokens. The right is exogenous because the acquired Service Nervous System tokens and governance rights belong to separate application DAO systems.

Value Distribution

  • Burn Entitlement (Algorithmic or Guaranteed)

    Right to benefit from the permanent ICP token supply reduction caused by protocol burn mechanisms. The right applies to ICP token holders through the supply effect of burns, including conversion into cycles, transaction fees and failed-proposal fees. Strength is Algorithmic or Guaranteed because the burn mechanisms are protocol-defined rather than discretionary off-chain distributions.

System Attributes

Operating Model

<p>Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;is&nbsp;an&nbsp;On-Chain&nbsp;Protocol.&nbsp;Core&nbsp;service&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;is&nbsp;coordinated&nbsp;through&nbsp;subnets,&nbsp;canister&nbsp;smart&nbsp;contracts,&nbsp;Network&nbsp;Nervous&nbsp;System&nbsp;canisters,&nbsp;registry&nbsp;records&nbsp;and&nbsp;node&nbsp;machines&nbsp;operated&nbsp;by&nbsp;approved&nbsp;node&nbsp;providers&nbsp;and&nbsp;node&nbsp;operators.&nbsp;The&nbsp;physical&nbsp;node&nbsp;machines,&nbsp;data-centre&nbsp;facilities&nbsp;and&nbsp;API&nbsp;boundary&nbsp;nodes&nbsp;are&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;components,&nbsp;but&nbsp;the&nbsp;economically&nbsp;critical&nbsp;coordination&nbsp;for&nbsp;admission,&nbsp;registry&nbsp;state,&nbsp;subnet&nbsp;configuration,&nbsp;software&nbsp;deployment&nbsp;decisions,&nbsp;resource&nbsp;accounting&nbsp;and&nbsp;reward&nbsp;calculation&nbsp;sits&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;protocol&nbsp;and&nbsp;Network&nbsp;Nervous&nbsp;System.&nbsp;This&nbsp;differs&nbsp;from&nbsp;an&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;business&nbsp;because&nbsp;no&nbsp;corporate&nbsp;custody&nbsp;account,&nbsp;central&nbsp;database&nbsp;or&nbsp;company-operated&nbsp;server&nbsp;stack&nbsp;is&nbsp;evidenced&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;binding&nbsp;delivery&nbsp;layer&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;base&nbsp;system.</p>

Value Creation

<p>Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;has&nbsp;On-Chain&nbsp;Value&nbsp;Creation.&nbsp;The&nbsp;productive&nbsp;service&nbsp;is&nbsp;created&nbsp;by&nbsp;canister&nbsp;smart&nbsp;contracts&nbsp;running&nbsp;across&nbsp;Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;subnets:&nbsp;canisters&nbsp;execute&nbsp;WebAssembly&nbsp;code,&nbsp;store&nbsp;application&nbsp;state,&nbsp;process&nbsp;inter-canister&nbsp;messages&nbsp;and&nbsp;can&nbsp;serve&nbsp;web&nbsp;assets.&nbsp;Node&nbsp;machines&nbsp;and&nbsp;data-centre&nbsp;facilities&nbsp;are&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;physical&nbsp;inputs,&nbsp;but&nbsp;they&nbsp;support&nbsp;the&nbsp;protocol&nbsp;execution&nbsp;environment&nbsp;rather&nbsp;than&nbsp;creating&nbsp;a&nbsp;separate&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;customer&nbsp;product.&nbsp;API&nbsp;boundary&nbsp;nodes&nbsp;forward&nbsp;client&nbsp;and&nbsp;application&nbsp;calls&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;relevant&nbsp;subnets,&nbsp;but&nbsp;the&nbsp;core&nbsp;valuable&nbsp;work&nbsp;remains&nbsp;canister&nbsp;execution,&nbsp;state&nbsp;maintenance,&nbsp;message&nbsp;processing,&nbsp;certification&nbsp;and&nbsp;storage&nbsp;inside&nbsp;the&nbsp;Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;protocol.&nbsp;Storage&nbsp;and&nbsp;bandwidth&nbsp;are&nbsp;treated&nbsp;as&nbsp;bundled&nbsp;resource&nbsp;dimensions&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;Layer&nbsp;1&nbsp;service.</p>

Value Capture

<p>Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;has&nbsp;On-Chain&nbsp;Value&nbsp;Capture&nbsp;and&nbsp;Routing.&nbsp;Developers,&nbsp;canister&nbsp;controllers&nbsp;or&nbsp;payment&nbsp;providers&nbsp;convert&nbsp;Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;Protocol&nbsp;tokens&nbsp;into&nbsp;cycles,&nbsp;and&nbsp;cycles&nbsp;are&nbsp;consumed&nbsp;by&nbsp;canisters&nbsp;for&nbsp;compute,&nbsp;storage&nbsp;and&nbsp;bandwidth.&nbsp;The&nbsp;immediate&nbsp;recipient&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;cycles&nbsp;balance&nbsp;and&nbsp;burn/accounting&nbsp;mechanism;&nbsp;the&nbsp;final&nbsp;economic&nbsp;effects&nbsp;accrue&nbsp;to&nbsp;canister&nbsp;users&nbsp;through&nbsp;prepaid&nbsp;resources&nbsp;and&nbsp;to&nbsp;remaining&nbsp;Internet&nbsp;Computer&nbsp;Protocol&nbsp;token&nbsp;holders&nbsp;through&nbsp;permanent&nbsp;token&nbsp;burns.&nbsp;The&nbsp;protocol&nbsp;also&nbsp;mints&nbsp;ICP&nbsp;tokens&nbsp;to&nbsp;node&nbsp;providers&nbsp;for&nbsp;operating&nbsp;node&nbsp;machines&nbsp;and&nbsp;to&nbsp;Network&nbsp;Nervous&nbsp;System&nbsp;neurons&nbsp;for&nbsp;governance&nbsp;participation.&nbsp;Network&nbsp;Nervous&nbsp;System&nbsp;voters&nbsp;can&nbsp;amend&nbsp;economic&nbsp;parameters&nbsp;such&nbsp;as&nbsp;reward&nbsp;tables,&nbsp;transaction&nbsp;fees&nbsp;and&nbsp;proposal&nbsp;reject&nbsp;costs.&nbsp;No&nbsp;recurring&nbsp;off-chain&nbsp;corporate&nbsp;revenue&nbsp;account&nbsp;is&nbsp;evidenced&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;base&nbsp;system.</p>