To maintain the Internet Computer [ICP] blockchain network, a not-for-profit organization called Dfinity Foundation has announced the launch of a grant fund of nearly $220 million [200 million Swiss francs]. Dubbed ‘Internet Computer Developer Ecosystem Program,’ this resource is aimed to aid in financing the development of the blockchain network.
With the Developer Ecosystem Program, the organization plans to deploy the amount to entrepreneurs and developer teams, supporting the growth of a new ecosystem of decentralized applications [dapps] and services on the open web. An important part of the program will also involve “non-dilutive financing” in the form of developer grants.
Following the latest development, DFINITY founder and chief scientist Dominic Williams remarked,
“The Internet Computer redefines public blockchain as a platform that can now run smart contracts at web speed, that can serve web directly to users, that can increase its capacity with demand as needed, that is efficient, that governs itself, and that can provide better usability than those systems built on traditional technology.”
According to the official announcement, this program is also set to offer non-dilutive grants to teams building on the ICP network and will run separately from the Beacon Fund, which is a venture fund focused on supporting entrepreneurs building open internet services on it.
Internet Computer’s rise to fame
Internet Computer was the latest cryptocurrency to have made a splashy debut in May after it went on to become one of the largest digital assets. It started trading nearly $600 in the second week of the month but fell shortly after the subsequent market pullbacks.
At the time of writing, ICP’s price stabilized at around $142.9 with a market cap of $17.7 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $455.
ICP In Brief:
The ICP digital token runs on its own proprietary protocol called Internet Computer Protocol. The value proposition of this is to enable anyone to develop software or publish content on the Internet instead of using services from already established biggies such as Amazon, Google, or Facebook. The ecosystem aims to provide a “better deal” for users while allowing them to build in a truly decentralized manner.