Internet Computer

ICP powers the Internet Computer, a blockchain that runs whole apps on-chain.

The Internet Computer is a public blockchain built to run complete applications, including their code and data, on the network itself. Apps run as canister smart contracts on subnets, groups of nodes run by independent node providers in different data centres. The project is led by the DFINITY Foundation, a Swiss non-profit founded by Dominic Williams. ICP tokens went live on 10 May 2021.

ICP has four jobs. It is a transferable currency; it is converted into cycles, the fuel that pays for computing and storage (ICP worth 1 XDR buys 1 trillion cycles, and that ICP is burned); it is staked in neurons to vote in the Network Nervous System (NNS), the on-chain governance that upgrades and runs the network; and it pays node providers for hardware.

ICP has no supply cap. Total supply was about 556.9 million ICP on 27 September 2026, up from 469.2 million at launch, because new ICP for voting and node rewards has exceeded the ICP burned for cycles. In March 2026 the NNS narrowly approved Mission 70, a DFINITY plan to cut inflation by at least 70% by the end of 2026, which shortens the longest neuron lock-up from 8 to 2 years.

About 52% of all ICP was held in NNS neurons in September 2026. The network had 67 subnets and about 1.16 million running canisters in September 2026. DFINITY's current focus is AI-built apps (such as its Caffeine platform) and 'cloud engines', private subnets sold to businesses by node providers.