In modern society, computing has become the 'heart' of social operation, but traditional IT architectures are increasingly complex and fragile, struggling to withstand escalating network attacks and cost pressures. Against this backdrop, the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), with its security model derived from mathematics and cryptography, the infinite horizontal scaling brought by chain-key cryptography, and the native smart contract execution and multi-chain interoperability capabilities, provides developers and end users with a similar experience to AWS/Google Cloud without relying on third-party cloud services or worrying about the loss of security and control. At the same time, its decentralized governance system — the Network Nervous System (NNS) empowers community co-governance in a liquid democracy manner, truly restoring the openness and innovative essence of the internet.

1. Definition and Goals of ICP

ICP (Internet Computer Protocol) is a public blockchain network initiated and continuously developed by the DFINITY Foundation. It is built from 'first principles' using a new generation of cryptography and distributed systems research, aiming to extend the public internet into a native cloud computing platform, allowing smart contracts to have capabilities equivalent to traditional software, and ultimately replacing traditional IT architecture to support the next generation of Web3 services and applications.

Public Blockchain and Sovereign Hardware

  • Full Network Consensus: ICP uses a 'Proof of Useful Work' (PoUW) mechanism, where nodes continuously contribute computing power to subnets, ensuring both security and energy efficiency, maintaining the network effectively.

  • Sovereign Hardware Hosting: Network nodes are distributed across independent hardware facilities globally, operated by a decentralized community, ensuring the network has no single points of failure or centralized control.

2. Core Technologies

1. Chain-Key Cryptography and Horizontal Scaling

ICP's chain-key cryptography allows multiple subnet chains to be merged into a single chain while ensuring secure and efficient communication across subnets. This innovation enables the network to scale infinitely, with the total number of managed smart contracts, computing, and data capacity being virtually limitless.

2. Smart Contracts — Canister

  • Code and Data Integrated: A Canister is a fully functional smart contract unit that contains both execution logic and state data, allowing for mutual communication and managed by DAOs, communities, or individuals.

  • Rich Resources: Each Canister comes with storage, computing, and bandwidth, performing like a complete computer, capable of deploying decentralized applications without the need for additional database or storage server construction and maintenance.

3. Native Web Capabilities

ICP's unique architecture allows smart contracts to directly handle HTTP requests, providing interactive web experiences to end users without the need for intermediary cloud services or trusted servers.

  • HTTP Gateway: Standard browsers can interact with Canisters through an HTTP gateway, mapping common resources like HTML, JS, images, etc., to smart contract calls for a seamless access experience.

  • Full Chain Hosting of Frontend and Backend: Both frontend, backend, and data run on-chain, with applications ready to use, achieving speeds comparable to traditional cloud services while maintaining the security and decentralization features of blockchain.

4. Multi-Chain Interoperability

ICP achieves seamless integration with mainstream chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum through chain-key cryptography, discarding vulnerable centralized cross-chain bridges.

  • Direct Bitcoin Interaction: Canisters can generate Bitcoin addresses and send and receive Bitcoin directly with the Bitcoin ledger without intermediary intervention.

  • Ethereum Integration: Introducing chain-key tokens like ckETH and ckERC-20 allows ETH assets to flow freely on ICP with finality in seconds and costs as low as a few cents, reducing transaction costs and enhancing user experience.

5. Decentralized Governance

ICP's governance is handled by the Network Nervous System (NNS), which is an open, permissionless DAO.

  • Convenient Participation: Anyone can stake ICP tokens as 'neurons' and lock them for 6 months to 8 years to gain voting rights and rewards.

  • Liquid Democracy: Neurons can vote independently or follow the votes of other neurons, achieving a fluid representative system, with longer lock-in times yielding higher rewards, further incentivizing long-term commitment.

6. Actual Operation and Stability

Since the launch of Genesis in May 2021, the ICP network has operated stably without any major security incidents. Over the years, thousands of Canisters have continuously served users, providing reliable support for various decentralized applications and validating the robustness of its underlying protocols and architecture.

Conclusion

ICP reshapes the underlying model of computing and trust with its new architecture that spans from mathematical protocols to cryptography, from distributed hardware to DAO governance. It not only ensures the security and reliability of applications and data, but also allows developers and users to enjoy decentralization while still gaining the convenience of traditional cloud services through native web capabilities and multi-chain interoperability. This innovative example is attracting more and more creators and teams to participate, jointly writing the next chapter of the internet era.