{"id":259077,"date":"2021-05-26T06:06:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T03:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/223m-fund-for-internet-computer-builders-but-community-is-wary\/"},"modified":"2021-05-26T06:06:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T03:06:52","slug":"223m-fund-for-internet-computer-builders-but-community-is-wary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/223m-fund-for-internet-computer-builders-but-community-is-wary\/","title":{"rendered":"# $223M fund for Internet Computer builders \u2014 but community is wary"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# $223M fund for Internet Computer builders \u2014 but community is wary <\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

Zurich-based Dfinity Foundation has announced a fund worth CHF 200 million, or around $223 million, to support development on the Internet Computer \u2014 a blockchain-based decentralized network with wildly ambitious plans to one day \u201creplace\u201d much of the internet. <\/p>\n

The non-profit scientific research organization announced \u201cThe Developer Ecosystem Program\u201d on May 26, and is now accepting app<\/a>licants for development grants. <\/p>\n

These grants will operate separately from the $14.5 million Beacon Fund, which was announced in September 2020, and is a dedicated venture fund that backs developers creating open internet services on the platform.<\/p>\n

In a blog post announcing the new grants, Dfinity founder and chief scientist, Dominic Williams, stated<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to support the reimagination of all systems and services in new forms using smart contracts on an infinite public blockchain, and nothing else.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dfinity was founded in 2014 by entrepreneur Dominic Williams and has seen investment from Andreessen Horowitz and PolyChain Capital, who backed the project in a $105 million funding round in 2018. <\/p>\n

The Internet Computer\u2019s aim is to replace much of the internet with a self-governing blockchain based decentralized platform, that can facilitate smart contracts at web speed directly to users, with unlimited scalability, while offering greater efficiency and usability that systems built on traditional infrastructure. <\/p>\n

The Internet Computer relies on a decentralized Web 3.0 cloud-like protocol dubbed the Internet Computer Protocol, or ICP, that utilizes a combination of data centers and high-end node machines, or validators, across the globe \u2014 to create a network of computers to host this new version of the public internet.<\/p>\n

The ICP is \u201cintended as a complete replacement” for existing internet infrastructure, Williams told<\/a> Forbes in 2019. <\/p>\n

Dfinity proposes decentralization by introducing a consensus model dubbed the Threshold Relay, which is accompanied by its Network Nervous System, or NNS \u2014 algorithmic software that governs the Internet Computer, economics, and structure.<\/p>\n

The Internet Computer, or ICP, token enables participation in governance through staking ICP in the NNS and by locking them inside \u201cvoting neurons,\u201d with the longer a holder stakes ICP, the more voting power they receive. <\/p>\n

Dfinity\u2019s grandiose vision for the ICP has been greeted with a mixed reaction among many in the crypto community, with questions raised over how decentralized the project’s governance actually is. <\/p>\n

In an illustrative thread<\/a> on the \u201cr\/dfinity\u201d subreddit<\/a> on May 25, user \u201cu\/Additional_Plant\u201d noted \u201cI don’t doubt that it is a powerful, game<\/a> changing project. But that doesn’t mean it’s good for us common folks,\u201d adding that:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are too many red flags. For all intents and purposes, Dfinity have total control through the NNS. Is it really a crypto? Not really. Is it actually decentralized? Far from it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coinbureau also released a popular review and breakdown<\/a> of ICP on Youtube on May 23, and highlighted various issues with privacy and decentralization. <\/p>\n

The breakdown raised issues such as Dfinity\u2019s apparent \u201ctotal control\u201d over the network, the undisclosed amount of power the NNS has over governance, and the potential ramifications of users handing over their private data to the project, as they are required to create a single \u201cInternet Identity\u201d to operate on the network. <\/p>\n