How To Buy Internet Computer (ICP)?

A common question you often see on social media from crypto beginners is “Where can I buy Internet Computer?” Well, you’ll be happy to hear it is actually quite a simple and straightforward process. Thanks to its massive popularity, you can now buy Internet Computer on most cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance in 3 simple steps.

Step 1: Create an account on an exchange that supports Internet Computer (ICP)

First, you will need to open an account on a cryptocurrency exchange that supports Internet Computer (ICP).
We recommend the following based on functionality, reputation, security, support and fees:

In order to sign up, you will need to enter some basic information, such as your email address, password, full name and, in some cases, you might also be asked for a phone number or address.

Note: On specific exchanges, you might need to complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure in order to be able to purchase cryptocurrency. This is most commonly the case with licensed and regulated exchanges.

Step 2: Deposit funds into your account

Many cryptocurrency exchanges will allow you to purchase Internet Computer (ICP) with fiat currencies, such as EUR, USD, AUD and others. Furthermore, they will also provide you with multiple deposit methods through which you can fund your fiat account, such as credit and debit cards, ewallets or direct bank transfers.

Note: Some payment methods will have higher fees than others, such as credit card payments. Before funding your fiat account on your chosen exchange, make sure to do your due diligence to find out the fees involved with each payment method to avoid unnecessary costs.

Step 3: Buy Internet Computer (ICP)

This process is similar across almost every cryptocurrency exchange. All you have to do is find a navigation bar or a search bar, and search for Internet Computer (ICP) or Internet Computer (ICP) trading pairs. Look for the section that will allow you to buy Internet Computer (ICP), and enter the amount of the cryptocurrency that you want to spend for Internet Computer (ICP) or the amount of fiat currency that you want to spend towards buying Internet Computer (ICP). The exchange will then calculate the equivalent amount of Internet Computer (ICP) based on the current market rate.

Note: Make sure to always double-check your transaction details, such as the amount of Internet Computer (ICP) you will be buying as well as the total cost of the purchase before you end up confirming the transaction. Furthermore, many cryptocurrency exchanges will offer you their own proprietary software wallet where you will be storing your cryptocurrencies; however, you can create your own individual software wallet, or purchase a hardware wallet for the highest level of protection.

For more in-depth instructions, our ‘Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Cryptocurrency Investing‘ will take you through the process step-by step. In addition to providing instructions for sending and receiving your cryptocurrency.
And if you’re completely new to crypto our beginner, intermediate and advanced level articles will get you up to speed with everything you need to know about the cryptocurrency space starting out. 

Internet Computer (ICP) is a collection of protocols that enables independent data centers located all over the world to collaborate with one another and provide a decentralized alternative to the centralized internet cloud providers that are currently in use. The ICP token serves multiple purposes, including governance (owners have a say in the direction the network will take in the future), rewarding network participants for ethical behavior, and covering the costs of conducting transactions.

What is Dfinity?

The DFINITY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Zurich, Switzerland. The Foundation operates research centers in a variety of locations across the globe, some of which are located in Zurich, Palo Alto, and San Francisco. The members of the team contribute their labor from a wide range of locations across the globe, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. In addition, Dfinity operates administrative centers in locations such as Neuchatel, which is located in Switzerland. Both the research and development of technology that supports the Internet Computer, as well as the support of developers who are interested in building on top of the Internet Computer, are two of the primary goals of the DFINITY Foundation. You can find the official website here.

What is the Internet Computer Association (ICA)?

The Internet Computer Association is an organization that serves as a hub for a non-profit membership organization with its headquarters in Geneva. The members of the Internet Computer ecosystem, including data centers, node providers, developers, educators, investors funding the building of decentralized applications (dapps), enterprises wishing to use it, regulators, and so on, will be supported, coordinated, connected, and advocated for by this organization. You can find the official website at here.

How Does Internet Computer (ICP) Work?

The Internet Computer is a new blockchain that makes use of ground-breaking technology and cryptography. This enables you to execute Canister smart contracts at a significantly faster speed and at a substantially lower cost than has ever been seen before. This is accomplished without compromising decentralization or the security features offered by a blockchain. We are of the opinion that all software systems can and should be run on top of a blockchain, and we are headed toward a future in which a significant number of things will be tokenized. 

In a matter of seconds, you will be able to host web pages in addition to conducting financial transactions and executing Canister smart contracts using the Internet Computer. This indicates that the entirety of your stack may be decentralized. This is a significant benefit of the Internet Computer in comparison to other smart contract platforms, the majority of which require users to interact with the chains by means of a third-party service, such as Amazon Web Services.

In addition to this, the Internet Computer can be expanded to any size. New nodes do not result in an increase in the network’s total capacity when using a traditional blockchain, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. The Internet Computer is comparable to the internet in that it is composed of a large number of distinct subnets that are able to communicate with one another. It is possible to expand its capacity indefinitely by adding additional subnets.

In conclusion, the Internet Computer’s native on-chain governance system, known as the Network Nervous System, allows for simple upgrades and expansions of its capabilities (NNS). By staking ICP, the utility token for the Internet Computer, in voting neurons within the NNS, anyone is able to take part in the governance of this network. Token holders who take part in the event can submit proposals to either improve or expand the network. These upgrades take place invisibly and do not involve any disruptive hardforks; consequently, the Internet Computer is able to rapidly evolve and improve.

The internet computer is made up of a wide variety of different parts, including subnets, nodes, canisters, the NNS, neurons, proposals, votes, ICP, and cycles. Let’s take a quick look at each component to help you get a better grasp on what the Internet Computer is composed of.

• Subnets: A subnet is a specific group of nodes. Anything that runs on a particular subnet is replicated across one to many nodes in the subnet.
• Nodes: A node is a single machine running somewhere in the world. Nodes combine their computing power and run the Internet Computer Protocol.
• Canisters: A canister is where an application runs on a subnet (or group of nodes). This means the canister is the code, state, memory, and storage for Internet Computer applications.
• The NNS: The Nervous Network System (NNS). This is a system of neurons, proposals, votes, ICP, and staking that governs the Internet Computer. By governance, I mean almost all changes to the internet computer have to go through the NNS in a proposal.
• Neuron: A neuron may contain staked ICP. When ICP is staked and the dissolve delay is greater than 6 months, the neuron is a voting entity in the NNS.
• Proposal: In order to change the Internet Computer in any way, you have to do it through a proposal to the NNS (there may be a few edge cases that do not require NNS proposals). The proposal will outline a specific change, and then everyone with staked ICP in neurons will vote on it to decide whether to adopt the change or not.
• Votes: Each neuron receives voting power based on how much ICP is staked in it, how long the ICP has been staked in the neuron, and how long the ICP has to be locked away (also called dissolve delay). When a neuron votes on an NNS proposal it earns rewards.
• ICP: The Internet Computer Protocol, ICP, is a utility token that can be purchased at common exchanges (Coinbase, Binance) and staked in a neuron to participate in the governance of the internet computer. You also receive rewards in ICP for staking and voting on NNS proposals.
• Cycles: ICP can be converted into cycles. For example, 1 ICP might be worth 5 trillion cycles. This conversion rate always changes based on NNS proposals. A cycle is an operation performed by a computer, so cycles are a more granular form of compute costs. Canisters (see definition above) do computations on the Internet Computer and consume cycles to do those computations.

What is the ICP token?

There are many different applications for the ICP token. To begin, it is essential because it serves as the payment for computation in the form of cycles. It is possible to obtain one trillion cycles by converting one SDR worth of ICP. The IMF keeps a close eye on a stable basket of currencies known as the SDR. At the time of this writing, one can purchase one for approximately $1.42 USD. In order to cover the costs of computation, storage, and serving of web pages, cycles are burned. More ICP tokens are converted and burned whenever there is an increase in the number of applications that are hosted on the Internet Computer.

The NNS is the location of the second application of ICP. To participate in voting and receive rewards for voting within the NNS, you will need to stake some of your ICP tokens in a neuron. When you vote, you will receive voting rewards in the form of freshly minted ICP tokens as a thank you for your participation.

ICP tokens are also created and distributed as rewards to node providers as a final point. Because the tokens are turned into cycles and then burned, the total supply of ICP has a deflationary effect. On the other hand, the total supply of ICP is inflationary. On the other hand, it leads to inflation due to the fact that rewards are created for node providers and neurons.

What makes Internet Computer (ICP) unique?

One of the biggest questions about any cryptocurrency is how it differs from any other crypto. Here are three ways that Internet Computer stands out from other players:

• It allows anyone to create software on the internet. The technology allows anyone to use its blockchain technology to create apps and lets them do an end-run around the big tech companies.
• It runs on a decentralized network, not the cloud. In contrast to many other blockchains that run on the cloud, Internet Computer runs on a dedicated hardware set up by independent parties, according to Dominic Williams, founder of Dfinity.
• It’s fast. While completing transactions using some cryptocurrencies may take 30 minutes or more, Dfinity boasts that its crypto operates at web speed.

• Its immense potential. The cryptocurrency’s founder has made big claims about the potential of the cryptocurrency to displace, or at least nudge, internet behemoths from their lofty positions. These claims include the speed of the cryptocurrency, its ability to scale quickly and its ability to drastically reduce computing costs.
• Backed by big name investors. Andreesen Horowitz is a big-name venture capital firm, while another key investor (Polychain Capital) specializes in venture capital for crypto. The backing of well-regarded investors brings others to the party.
• Promotion: Some market analysts have already come out with price targets for the ICP, and have projected huge price increases over the coming years. Understandably, that hasn’t dampened investors’ enthusiasm one bit.

Internet Computer development updates in 2023

Internet Computer (ICP) has undergone several notable developments in 2023. Key updates include:

• New Releases of dfx and Rust CDK: The release of dfx v0.15.0 brought several new features and adjustments to enhance the developer experience. This included changes like dfx nns and dfx sns being turned into subcommands of the dfx extension. Also, the default value of allow_raw_access was changed to true, allowing raw assets to be available by default. The dfx replica and dfx bootstrap commands were removed, and dfx start is now used instead. Additionally, the Rust CDK v0.11.0 was released, which introduced improvements to the Candid export workflow​​.

• vetKeys Feature: The vetKeys feature was presented, offering a range of cryptographic functions and use-cases on the Internet Computer. This feature is designed to help mitigate challenges faced by developers in using security and privacy tools on ICP. It leverages BLS signatures, which are the native signature scheme on ICP, and can be used as cryptographic decryption keys. The vetKeys feature aims to simplify encrypted information sharing and retrieval across devices in a secure manner​​.

• Developer Journey Tutorial Series: A new Developer Journey tutorial series was introduced, designed to guide new developers through development on the Internet Computer. This series includes several levels, starting from an introductory level that provides an overview of ICP, its terminology, and developer environment setup, to more advanced modules covering various aspects of ICP development​​.

• Developer Workshop Series and 1-proposal SNS Initialization Feature: A new ongoing video series, ‘Building on the Future // Workshop Series’, was launched to showcase how to build ICP dapps using Juno. Additionally, an upgrade proposal was submitted for the 1-proposal SNS initialization feature, aimed at simplifying the launch process for an SNS​​.

• New NNS Proposal and dfx Update: A new NNS proposal was submitted, focusing on temporarily disabling OpenSnsTokenSwap proposals within the NNS governance as a measure to prevent multiple proposals of this type from being simultaneously opened in an SNS. The dfx 0.15.0-beta.1 update re-enabled response verification v2 for asset canisters​​.

These developments reflect Internet Computer’s commitment to enhancing the developer experience and expanding its functionalities in the decentralized computing space.

Official website: https://dfinity.org/

Best cryptocurrency wallet for Internet Computer (ICP)

There are plenty of different crypto wallets available. The best one for you depends on your general trading habits and which provides the most security in your situation. There are two main types of wallets: hot storage wallets (digital) and cold storage or hardware wallets (physical). Both have their pros and cons, and there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer when it comes to figuring out which crypto wallet is best for you.

HOW DO I DECIDE WHICH cryptocurrency WALLET TO USE for Internet Computer (ICP)?

Deciding which type of wallet to use depends on a variety of factors, including:

• How often you trade. In general, hot wallets are better for more active cryptocurrency traders. Quick login ability means you are only a few clicks and taps away from buying and selling crypto. Cold wallets are better suited for those looking to make less frequent trades. 
• What you want to trade. As mentioned earlier, not all wallets support all types of cryptocurrencies. However, some of the best crypto wallets have the power to trade hundreds of different currencies, providing more of a one-size-fits-all experience.
• Your peace of mind. For those worried about hacking, having a physical cold wallet stored in a safe deposit box at the bank or somewhere at home, provides the safest, most secure option. Others might be confident in their ability to keep their hot wallets secure.
• How much it costs. It is important to investigate the costs associated with each wallet. Many hot wallets will be free to set up. Meanwhile, cold wallets, like any piece of hardware, will cost money to purchase.
• What it can do. While the basics of each cryptocurrency wallet are the same, additional features can help set them apart. This is especially true of hot wallets, many of which come with advanced reporting features, insights into the crypto market, the ability to convert cryptocurrencies and more. Security features can also be a good differentiator.

For a more in-depth overview of cryptocurrency wallets visit our “Cryptocurrency Wallets Explained” guide.

If you’re going to be dealing in larger volumes of crypto, investing in cold storage might prove advantageous.
Most widespead examples of this being the Ledger Nano and the Trezor.

Ledger manufactures cold storage wallets designed for users who want increased security. Their wallets are a physical device that connects to your computer. Only when the device is connected can you send your cryptocurrency from it. Ledger offers a variety of products, such as the Ledger Nano S and the Ledger Nano X (a bluetooth connected hardware wallet).

Trezor is a pioneering hardware wallet company. The combination of world-class security with an intuitive interface and compatibility with other desktop wallets, makes it ideal for beginners and experts alike. The company has gained a lot of the Bitcoin community’s respect over the years. Trezor offers two main models – The Trezor One and Trezor Model T (which has a built in touch screen).

• Market Capitalization And Daily Trading Volume
• Current Market Price Of Every Cryptocurrency Relative To USD (And Some Local Currencies)
• Circulating And Total Supply
• Historical Charts With Prices Relative To USD, Bitcoin (BTC), And Ethereum (ETH).