The Internet Computer is a seamless shared universe for reimagined software that’s secure and unstoppable, that can power a new generation of enterprise systems and internet services. It’s created by independent data centers running the ICP protocol.

The ICP utility token (formerly known as “DFN”) is the primary mechanism that allows the broader internet community to participate in the governance of the Internet Computer network. ICP can also be dissolved and converted into cycles, which are then used to run websites and applications as well as power computations on the Internet Computer via canisters.

The project was founded in October 2016 by Dominic Williams, and attracted notable interest from the crypto community. DFINITY raised a total of $121 million from contributors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, SV Angel, Aspect Ventures, Electric Capital, ZeroEx, Scalar Capital, and Multicoin Capital, and several notable early Ethereum supporters.