The ecological airdrop season is coming, can DFINITY return to its peak?

Author: Bai Ze Research Institute

Do you still remember DFINITY, the former superstar project?

In May 2018, 50,000 registered participants received an airdrop of ICP tokens.

In August 2018, DFINITY raised USD 102 million from encryption venture capital such as a16z, Polychain Capital, KR1, Amino Capital, and formed an all-star team of more than 215 members. Most of them are the world’s top cryptography technology, academic and leadership talent.

In May 2021, attracting much attention, Internet Computer (hereinafter referred to as IC), developed and maintained by the DFINITY Foundation, officially launched its mainnet.

DFINITY has attracted an influx of investors, application developers and communities in the early stages of development, thanks to founder Dominic Williams’ unconstrained vision of DFINITY, that is, a decentralized “world computer” that does not require Using centralized cloud services such as AWS, you can build a public chain that is fully linked to DApps, a public chain that can support countless high-performance DApps, and a decentralized cloud computing platform that can be infinitely expanded.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, mentioned DFINITY many times on important occasions. During the EDCON 2023 conference not long ago, Vitalik said that he regarded the IC network developed by DFINITY as a sister network of Ethereum, not a competition.

But all of these died with the fall of the price of ICP tokens, many criticisms of the network system by the community, the development of multi-chain narratives, and the recent upsurge of Ethereum L2. It took only a few In January, from the overwhelming enthusiasm and discussions at the beginning, the Crypto Chinese community rarely mentioned the voice of DFINITY and ICP. Together with other star projects (Chia, Filcoin, etc.) in the same period, it has become a representative project of “the debut is the pinnacle”. (Recommended reading: “The inevitable end of the Non-EVM public chain? Multi-angle analysis of the reasons for the decline of ICP”)

Today, the IC mainnet has been online for two years. How is the technological development and ecosystem performance? The author will introduce the development of IC network in the past two years from three aspects: ICP 1.0, ICP 2.0 and ecological airdrop season. (Note: 1.0, 2.0 are unofficial definitions)

ICP 1.0: Improve the underlying facilities and expand the network infinitely through on-chain governance

NNS: IC’s own on-chain governance system

Since the IC network launched the main network in May 2021, it has undergone more than 140 upgrades, which is an unbelievably large number.

All of this is due to the on-chain governance system designed by ICP tokens - Network Nervous System NNS (Network Nervous).

Every ICP holder can become a neuron by locking the ICP, and then participate in NNS, and will receive system rewards for participating in governance. This is similar to the “staking mining” model. Participants lock their own ICP to obtain voting weight and corresponding benefits according to the number and duration of the pledge. The longest pledge period is 8 years, which is the origin of 8yeargang (8 Years Party), the largest community of ICP at present, which is a DAO composed of a group of ICP diehard fans, accompanying the growth of IC network.

The content of the NNS proposal covers almost all aspects of the IC network, including modification of system parameters and rules, optimization and upgrade of the system, freezing and unfreezing of accounts, addition or reduction of subnets, approval of nodes, etc. When a proposal is approved, the IC network will automatically upgrade according to the parameters in the proposal.

In other words, NNS represents the voice of the ICP community, and the IC network is upgraded accordingly according to the voice of the community.

However, since any neuron can initiate proposals, NNS does have a large number of garbage proposals**, and neurons that support the passing of garbage proposals can get more token rewards for actively participating in governance voting, although the development team Suggestions for revision have been put forward many times, but this problem has not been effectively resolved so far.

At present, a total of about 1.4 billion US dollars of ICP has been pledged on NNS, which is enough to make the IC network enter the ranks of the public chain ecology with the highest TVL.

Infinite Subnets: The “World Computer” Narrative Underpinning IC Networks

At the time of writing, the TPS of the IC network is about 5200 transactions per second, another amazing number. But its upper limit is infinite.

Ethereum is focusing on transforming sharding, but IC Network has had its own sharding solution, Subnet, since its launch. A subnet is a special type of blockchain in the IC network, which can be seamlessly integrated with other subnets to expand the capacity of the entire IC network by adding subnets.

If the IC network needs more computing power and storage resources, through the community regulation of the NNS proposal, the system will combine nodes to create a new subnet. Subnets interact with each other through ChainKey technology, so whether they are smart contracts in the same subnet or not, they can also communicate directly.

Currently, the IC network has 40 subnets, and in the future, as the IC network is further adopted and developed, this number will continue to increase to meet the increasing demand for capacity.

Although it has a strong technical framework and has opened up a very strong technical soil for DApps, unfortunately, because the price of ICP was manipulated by FTX founder SBF after its listing, many investors and developers lost confidence in the IC network, and the currency Price and ecology have caused a double blow. The next year, 2022, brings together bankruptcies, crashes, and bear market panics. Fortunately, the early applications of the IC ecology worked quietly, and the community struggled through this year in the midst of bullish and bearish quarrels.

ICP 2.0: Technology Expansion, Ecological Sail

Looking at the entire Web3 ecosystem, it is rare to see a public chain like DFINITY that “admires oneself in one’s own world and lets nature take its course in others’ world”.

In the Web3 industry, projects that take money and run away abound, let alone in a bear market where funds are scarce, profits are shrinking, and the community is scolding. To determine whether a team has the tendency to run away, it depends on whether they work hard and continue to develop products amidst the ridicule and attacks of the community; or gradually disappear and just lie down. In order to survive, some projects do not hesitate to abandon the original vision and turn to chasing hot spots.

On Twitter, community members often suggest a different path to founder Dom, for example, should they follow the NFT craze and promote IC NFT? Only by continuously introducing new users to the IC ecology can the currency price and the dying ecology be revitalized.

Obviously, DFINITY still has to stick to its own path, and it will take 20 years to walk this path. In “Announcing the Internet Computer “Mainnet” and 20-Year Roadmap”, Dom unveils the long-term development path of DFINITY. This road is not to “Kill ETH”, not to become No.1 in the Crypto and blockchain industry, but…

5 years later (2026): More and more Web2 traditional entrepreneurs and development teams develop products on the IC network, and it is easier to raise funds to become DAO governance.

10 years later (2031): Become the “open Internet” of the tech industry, the real Web3.

20 years later (2041): Become an “open Internet” bigger than Web2, extending to everyone’s life.

Today, two years after the mainnet was launched, DFINITY is still continuing to explore in several key technology areas, making efforts to realize this roadmap.

ckTokens: Towards a multi-chain ecology

In August 2022, the DFINITY Foundation announced that it has successfully integrated the IC network with the Bitcoin network. Simply put, every subnet and smart contract in the IC network can receive, store and send real bitcoins on the bitcoin blockchain using threshold ECDSA signatures. (Not a cross-chain bridge, all transactions in this method will be broadcast on the Bitcoin blockchain)

In order to facilitate the circulation and application of Bitcoin in the IC network, based on this technology, the development team launched ckBTC, a Bitcoin-anchored currency similar to WBTC, which is managed (issued and destroyed) by the ckBTC smart contract. The user sends real BTC to the smart contract to mint ckBTC; otherwise, the smart contract will pay BTC to the user’s Bitcoin wallet by sending ckBTC to the smart contract.

That is, transactions will be settled on the Bitcoin network only when users transfer BTC in and ckBTC out of the IC network. Therefore, when users use ckBTC in the IC network, they will not be troubled by the disadvantages of slow transaction speed and expensive transaction fees on the Bitcoin network.

In fact, there are already quite a few types of Bitcoin-anchored coins in the entire Web3 ecosystem, but the advantages of ckBTC can stand out among them:

• ckBTC has sufficient collateral, and users can even check the amount of collateral at any time during the transaction.

• ckBTC is fully decentralized and directly managed by the governance system NNS.

• Enable KYT (Know You Transaction), block black bitcoins, more secure and compliant.

Currently, the total number of ckBTC on the IC network has reached 47, worth about $1.2 million.

Inspired by ckBTC, DFINITY plans to build a “ckTokens” ecology in the future to integrate with more public chains without cross-chain bridges. It is expected that the IC network will become the “transportation hub” of the multi-chain ecosystem in the future. Among them, the direct integration of IC network and Ethereum and the development of ckETH have been put on the agenda.

SNS: DAO LaunchPad for ecological projects

SNS, which was called the “best product” of IC network together with NNS when the mainnet was launched, was finally officially launched this year.

Both NNS and SNS are the core governance infrastructure of the IC network. The former is the governance system responsible for the entire IC network, while the latter is a “one-click” governance system specially provided for ecological DApps to promote DApps in open governance and tokenization. , transparency and many other developments.

Each DApp in the IC network can use SNS to quickly issue tokens and open governance, which generally requires 5 steps:

• Set SNS parameters

• Transfer control of DApp

• Submit a proposal to NNS (whether to start SNS, how much ICP needs to be raised)

• NNS passed, start the decentralized token sale.

• Sales reach the standard, DAO is successfully launched, and future DApp upgrade proposals will be published in the DAO of the project on SNS; sales are not up to standard, failure, and control will be returned to the project party

Users can participate in the decentralized token sale of DApp in the “LaunchPad” function of NNS, and pay directly with ICP.

At present, 5 projects have successfully become DAOs through SNS, namely the decentralized chat application OpenChat, the decentralized short video platform Hot or Not, the decentralized search engine Kinic, IC Network’s first meme coin ICGhost, and the Web3 game Dragginz . Three platforms are being proposed, namely Catalyze, a decentralized community management platform, Boom DAO, a decentralized game platform, and EMC, an AI computing power trading platform.

**The airdrop season is coming: Can the IC ecology explode? **

If you have been paying attention to the ecosystem since the IC mainnet was launched, because the token standards have not yet been unified, the development of DeFi is relatively slow. The more intuitive feeling is that most of the early ecological projects are SocialFi, and most of them are benchmarking some Web2 Platform giants.

In fact, the design of the IC network is naturally suitable for DApps that require high performance, such as SocialFi and games. On most of the current mainstream public chains, all operations involving on-chain interactions (contract function calls) need to pay a certain Gas fee, and the cost of interaction is affected by the price of native tokens in the secondary market. In addition, when the network is congested In this case, the cost of interaction will increase accordingly.

The IC network implements a “reverse Gas” model, which, as the name suggests, is contrary to the traditional blockchain Gas model mechanism. As users, we do not need to pay any Gas fees when interacting with the chain. The prepaid interactive Gas in the contract is a bit similar to the traditional Internet mechanism, and the developer bears the operation and maintenance and hosting costs of the application platform.

This greatly improves the ease of use. Compared with Ethereum, users must go to the exchange to buy ETH, and then withdraw it to the wallet in order to use applications such as DeFi and NFT on ETH. This threshold directly blocks most of the potential user. On the IC network, developers provide Gas for running DApp smart contracts, and users only need to enjoy the service. In this way, users can easily use DApps without even knowing that the application is running on a blockchain.

At present, most of the early applications in the IC ecology have been officially launched, and some have already started preparing for the SNS token sale, so there are many airdrop expectations. Moreover, attracted by the fact that SNS can start DAO with one click, more and more projects have begun to be built on the IC network.

(Due to space reasons, only some of the more popular DApps on the IC network are listed below. For more DApps, please check the list built by the author:

1、DeFi

Infinity Swap

Veteran IC DeFi platform.

Notable investors include PolyChain and a16z. There are clear interactive airdrops and SNS token issuance plans.

Bitfinity

Ethereum L2 (IC EVM layer) launched by Infinity Swap aims to connect IC and Ethereum.

Currently in the testnet stage, official products include wallets, cross-chain bridges, and block browsers. It is attracting more projects to build on top of it. When the main network is officially launched, there may be a wave in the IC community, and the issuance of SNS tokens deserves attention.

ICDex

The early DEX on the IC network has slightly better liquidity and supports more currencies.

Twitter is active and has more followers. Official products also include IC Swap. Currently transitioning to multi-chain asset DeFi (token cross-chain). On ICDex, transaction mining can be carried out to obtain ICL token rewards, and ICL tokens can be traded on ICP Swap.

ICP Swap

The established DeFi platform on the IC network has functions including token exchange, liquidity mining, NFT market, governance, and is planning to launch a chat function.

The token is clearly confirmed as ICS, with a total amount of 1 billion. It is expected to be issued on SNS in the second half of this year and become a DAO. Interactive airdrops are expected.

Sonic

The new force of IC ecological DeFi, the functions include token exchange, liquidity mining, LBP (issue tokens through the liquidity guide pool).

According to the co-founders, the liquidity mining function will be launched soon, and at the same time, all liquidity pool creators will receive token airdrops.

Funded

IC version of Gitcoin. Projects and communities can raise funds on this platform and provide donors with NFTs with custom reward rights, such as airdrops of project tokens, discounts during token sales, etc. NFTs can be traded on the platform. So far, many popular projects on IC have launched crowdfunding campaigns through the platform, including HOT or NOT, Catalyze.

Users can get rewards by donating to promising new projects. For example, Catalyze, which is currently conducting a decentralized token sale on SNS, will conduct token airdrops to NFT holders who donate on Funded.

2、SocialFi

Openchat

One of IC’s earliest social applications, the IC version of Telegram. It supports functions such as creating group chats, sending emoticons, sending red envelopes (ICP, ckBTC), etc. Voice and video chat functions will be launched in the future. Each ordinary user enjoys 0.1GB of information storage space for free, and upgrades to diamond members are unlimited.

Token OC has been issued through SNS. At present, you can get an invitation link by upgrading to a diamond member of Openchat, invite friends to register and get CHAT token rewards. In addition, later this year, Openchat will launch a reputation system (through the DAO proposal), making money from chatting, but will focus on reviewing robot spam.

DSCVR

One of IC’s earliest social applications, the IC version of Reddit. Support functions such as posting, liking, commenting, tipping, creating and joining topic portals. The latest version also launched a web mini-game platform, where developers can submit and upload mini-games by themselves. Polychain previously led a $9 million round in DSCVR.

As an early IC project, tokens have not been issued on SNS so far, but if the project issues tokens, there is a high probability that it will be airdropped, because the platform has airdropped SNS-1 tokens on a large scale. Therefore, interested partners can interact more with basically no cost. In addition, DSCVR often holds joint activities with other projects, and there are prizes, so you can participate more.

District

One of IC’s earliest social applications, the IC version of Twitter. Support functions such as publishing posts, likes, comments, #topics, etc.

According to the roadmap, the project will issue tokens on SNS in the fourth quarter of this year. There may be airdrops, so lots of interaction.

Hot or Not

The IC version of Douyin (TikTok). Move the Douyin mode of short videos to IC, and use Web3’s unique token economy to stimulate the enthusiasm of passive users.

Recently, the project completed the token issuance plan on SNS. At present, the airdrop collection activity is being carried out. If you register for the project before July 15, 2023, you can receive HOT+COYN airdrops. In addition, as a Web3 project, Hot or Not is committed to making money by watching videos. Therefore, interested friends can interact more, and token airdrops based on leaderboards or behavioral activities may be launched in the future.

Catalyze

Catalyze is a community governance platform where creators can join, create their own groups, and interact with fans in them. NFTs can also be created to unlock online or offline events.

At the time of writing, Catalyze is running a decentralized token sale on SNS. In addition, there is an airdrop plan shown in the official roadmap, and early participants/official NFT holders can pay attention to when the airdrop will take place.

Seers

More like Twitter for IC than Distrikt, but not as many active users as Distrikt.

Seers currently only makes money by posting, and rewards ICP tokens every week according to the activity of users’ posts, and the rewards are very small. Also, to prevent bots, users must stake 1 ICP upon registration, hindering user adoption. But the good thing is that Seers also plans to issue tokens on SNS and become a DAO.

Dmail

Web3’s first decentralized mailbox, with functions including communication, domain name, asset transfer, NFT avatar, subscription and notification, etc. Famous investors include Hashkey, Kucoin, BiXin, etc. In addition to the IC network, Dmail has now integrated other networks, including Starknet, Sei, ETH, Solana, etc.

Recently, Dmail first cooperated with Worldcoin, and then completed the Pre-A round of financing, and actively cooperated with other wallet projects (accelerated adoption). At present, it has 550,000 registered domain name accounts and more than 300,000 personal addresses. The future is promising . At present, Dmail adopts a point system, and it is expected that there will be airdrops in the future.

3. Games/NFT/Metaverse

Plethora

IC version of “Egg Party”. Complete daily tasks for a chance to win NFTs from the game’s official partners.

IC1101

One of the early projects of the IC ecology, the metaverse platform built on the IC network.

Currently in the testnet stage, the picture quality is outstanding and the technology is excellent. It was selected into the Future3 incubator plan supported by Hashkey. However, the development team has been somewhat underwhelming in terms of marketing.

BoomDAO

BoomDAO’s leading product is a decentralized game launcher, which integrates a lot of game projects built on IC. Users can link wallets with one click to play different games. Game developers can quickly upload games and issue tokens or NFTs. In addition, BoomDAO is also committed to developing game developer-friendly tools such as the game general engine.

It is planned to issue tokens through SNS in August, and the airdrop has been confirmed. You can quickly join the community on the official website and ambush a wave of airdrops.

Yumi

The most popular NFT trading market on IC, the forefront of IC NFT field.

Conclusion

The author very much agrees with Herbert, general manager of DFINITY Asia Pacific, in “Interview with ICP: Responding to Questions, Entering Hong Kong, and ICP Ecological Set-up”, "The narrative of financial investment has shown signs of fatigue, and the market will eventually return to its essence and begin to pay attention to the underlying infrastructure of the Internet. Service. DFINITY chose one of the toughest and even lonely trails because we thought it was the only one that would last and be worth it. Once the dirt trail is out, it will get wider and flatter. "

DFINITY has indeed done many great things, such as very original token economics, reverse Gas model, democratic governance on the NNS chain, and so on.

But DFINITY did make bad choices, such as establishing a long-term stable governance system by incentivizing neurons to lock up positions for 8 years, but it created a permanent “oligarchy”.

However, it is commendable that from ICP 1.0 to 2.0, DFINITY has always adhered to the original vision, a public chain that can build fully on-chain DApps without using centralized cloud services such as AWS, and a public chain that can support countless high-performance DApps . In the continuous research and development of the development team, it is believed that DFINITY will be getting closer and closer to its 20-year roadmap.

The early ecological projects have also gradually grown into hard power “Web2 killers” through silent cultivation. With the coming of the ecological airdrop season, can DFINITY, or the IC network, return to its peak? We will wait and see.

risk warning:

The above items and opinions should not constitute investment advice, DYOR. According to the “Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risk of Hype in Virtual Currency Transactions” issued by the central bank and other departments, the content of this article is only for information sharing, and does not promote or endorse any operation and investment behavior. Participate in any illegal financial practice.