Like the internet before it, the blockchain industry seeks to usher in a new era and economy, known as Web3, where decentralization reigns supreme and users run the internet.
The Internet Computing (ICP) is helping pave the way by providing users with blockchain resources to build their Web3 applications and systems, and we spoke with Jan Camenisch, CTO and cryptographer at the DFINITY Foundation, to discuss how the Internet Computing Leveraging smart contracts to power its decentralized cloud network, and the unique advantages of using blockchain technology for web development.
Blockchain technology has been around since the 1990s, but it didn't officially become mainstream until 2009 - when Bitcoin also emerged. Bitcoin's rise may surprise many because of its unconventional setup. It wouldn't last in the early days, but those working in the cryptography field saw it coming.
“Bitcoin showed that you can build a secure system with just the protocol, you don’t need anything else, you don’t need any firewalls, a pure protocol that runs adequately on many computers can give you a secure system, which is Revolutionary,” said Jan Camenisch, CTO and cryptographer at the DFINITY Foundation.
DFINITY is a Switzerland-based non-profit organization dedicated to the financing and development of computer blockchains for the Internet. It has the largest R&D team in the blockchain and cryptography industry - more than 100,000 citations and more than 1,600 employee publications .
Internet Computer allows users to harness the power of blockchain and smart contracts to host and build almost anything on the web, from social media applications to gaming infrastructure. Internet Computer leverages the power of serverless cloud computing to provide users with the ability to build truly Freedom and control of your Web3 applications.
“Each smart contract has a URL on the ICP, so you just fire up your browser and enter the URL of the smart contract and then you can interact with the blockchain and all calculations are done on the blockchain , everything is hosted there,” says Jan.
Blockchain offers the privilege of autonomy
Web3 refers to the next generation of the Internet - a decentralized and user-controlled Internet, which is what the Internet Computer project is powering. Jan tells us that the Internet Computer's mission is to reinvent computing, including with its universal block Chain network replaces traditional IT infrastructure.
“The Internet Computer is more like the original Internet, it is an open environment and everyone can contribute, so now everyone can put their smart contracts on the Internet Computer and interact with other smart contracts, just Like the Internet, anyone can use it,” Jan said.
The Bitcoin bubble paved the way for us and showed the blockchain industry that there are enough resources to build a stable blockchain-based computing network. Today, Internet computers help users create decentralized Web3 applications and Allowing them to control and own their own internet services through smart contracts.
“If you want to interact with a smart contract, even if it runs out of Cycles (i.e. Gas) or its development team no longer exists, you can take over and maintain it yourself, so it is a smart open system with more functionality Powerful,” said Jan.
Since everything runs from the blockchain, users don’t have to worry about traditional IT responsibilities; instead, Internet computers essentially act as serverless cloud services, and users can leverage this autonomy to quickly and easily build almost any Web3 system or application.
“It’s a simpler programming model because you don’t have to worry about how to store the file, the data is kept in memory and the system takes care of the rest,” says Jan.
Build tamper-proof, scalable, and secure applications
The Internet Computer uses tamper-proof container software (the Internet Computer’s version of smart contracts) to power its network, meaning users can host their projects without the external risks that its blockchain architecture and modern cryptography design require. Firewalls are impenetrable to ransomware and there are no backdoors.
“A computer with a smart contract is like a regular computer, you don’t have to host your content somewhere else, you host them directly and securely on the network, so you benefit from that security,” Jan said.
The Internet Computer is an attractive platform to build on because it is not only secure, but also sustainable and scalable. Its protocols have stable APIs so users do not have to navigate and adapt to frequent patches and updates. The Internet Computer eliminates Many of the obstacles of traditional hosting make it easier for developers to build projects faster.
“You can develop faster because all the protocol properties are provided, you don’t have to think about security, how to store data, etc. It’s a great piece of software that’s cheap to build and maintain because it’s stable,” says Jan. .
Another highlight of the Internet computer architecture is its auto-scaling, which is why it is so easy to maintain. Its protocol combines nodes into efficient sub-network blockchains. Nodes can be added to its capacity instantly. Smart contracts are easy to expand in it. Sexual aspects also come into play.
“Smart contracts can communicate with each other regardless of where they are located, which helps facilitate automatic scaling, which also means that if you build your application correctly, it will automatically scale, so you don’t have to worry about running out of memory or computing power.” Jan said.
Integrates with Bitcoin and other platforms
In 2023, Internet computers were integrated with Bitcoin, a novel achievement as it enabled smart contracts to interact directly with the Bitcoin network without the use of chain bridges or intermediaries, meaning smart contracts on ICP could be held natively. Have, send, and receive Bitcoin, and read and write Bitcoin transactions, while also taking advantage of Bitcoin's security, liquidity, and network effects.
“The ICP network is directly integrated with the Bitcoin network, and each ICP copy of the private subnet also runs a Bitcoin light client that pulls the latest Bitcoin blocks and passes them through the consensus of the ICP subnet, which The ICP smart contract on the Bitcoin container) receives these Bitcoin blocks and then updates the Bitcoin UTXO set accordingly, which can then be accessed from any ICP smart contract (or anyone else), so they can do so without trust. way to read Bitcoin transactions and use ICP's http call to also submit the transaction to the Bitcoin network," Jan said.
The team is also working on adding support for other cryptocurrencies and looking to provide encryption for smart contracts, but beyond that, Internet computers are constantly evolving, which Jan said he's excited about.
"We've proven that we can take the principles of the protocol and provide a secure, uncrackable way of efficient computing, and now we've taken it to the next level, we're entering a new territory that I can't wait to see It’s going to be exciting with everything that’s going on,” Jan said.
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