Should You Buy Internet Computer?

Last Updated April 8th 2022

20 Min Read

Will Internet Computer Become A Millionaire Maker Coin for Traders and Investors?

Internet Computer is not solely a protocol that aims to decentralize the internet; it is also a new altcoin that could become the next 100-billion dollar cryptocurrency.

This article takes an overview of Internet Computer, the 36th most valuable digital asset, its core areas of business, and - most importantly for prospective investors - the pros and cons which can help answer the question: Should You Buy Internet Computer?

Internet Computer have been trending online since last May. This is as a result of the products that could be released to the general public in the future which was well-received by crypto traders and investors.

The coin reached an all-time high of $750 on its first day of trading. Such a strong start to a trading path has made several crypto analysts and experts forecast a great future ahead of the cryptocurrency since thousands of digital assets struggle to break the $5 price mark.

Internet Computer (ICP) is a different cryptocurrency. Cardano (ADA), Tronix (TRX), Ether (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB) serve as transactional currency as well as the main tokens which power the blockchain of the platform they run on. On the other hand, ICP settles transactions related to computational power.

Internet Computer has a great potential of rallying if the crypto boom maintains its momentum towards the end of the year.

With that said, strong censorship that targets cryptocurrencies as “securities” could see the digital asset plummet to new high lows in the future.

With the hype around the cryptocurrency, this looks impossible since it tags itself as censorship-resistant due to running on independent data centers across the world.

Is Internet Computer a good investment? With the possibilities of its blockchain, should you invest in Internet Computer? With an aim of giving strong competition to centralized technology companies, will Internet Computer continue to soar? With the introduction of DeFi apps and tokenized social media assets, is Internet Computer an Ethereum Killer?

Most importantly, for novice traders and investors - what are the pros and cons which can help answer the question; should I buy Internet Computer?

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Contents:

Internet Computer at a Glance
Internet Computer: Price Performance Till Date
The Pros of Buying Internet Computer
The Cons of Buying Internet Computer
What is the Safest Way to Buy Internet Computer?
The Bottom Line - Should You Buy Internet Computer?

Internet Computer At A Glance

internet computer icp

Created by Dominic Williams and his team of 188 members, Internet Computer is a blockchain network that serves as a broad server for activities related to web publishing to be carried out in a faster and easy manner.

Created to decentralize the internet from all forms of centralization, the timing of the innovative technology was right. Internet Computer has come at a time when a lot of new traders and investors have jumped onto the crypto train.

Having taken time to create the technology, Dominic Williams and his team of developers bypassed the longstanding SHA-256 proof-of-work algorithm by Bitcoin and Ethereum 1.0. This has seen the Internet Computer describe itself as a more scalable decentralized network that is more efficient than blockchains which rely on mining.

The project was launched on 8th May 2021. As high as 125,000 people registered for a live-streamed launch party, and this included speakers and giveaways.

The Dfinity Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland is the non-profit organization behind the development of the blockchain and cryptocurrency as well as its adoption by the general public.

What is Internet Computer?

Internet Computer is a decentralized, blockchain-driven protocol that permits developers and creators to set up services and applications that run on nodes that are distributed around the world. Such apps are resistant to any forms of censorship and do not need traditional web hosting platforms.

Its ticker symbol is ICP.

Why Was Internet Computer Created?

The primary purpose for the creation of ICP is to grant content creators and software developers the ability to publish any idea they have on the internet. This could be done without employing the services of Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, or other cloud hosting servers. With this, users can build their social media applications, websites, enterprise IT systems as well as other services which compete with giants of the technology world. Internet Computer further aims to create a global computing platform by serving as the primary host of software and data.

How Many Internet Computer Coins Are In Supply?

217,281,739 ICPs are circulating on the market from a total supply of 479,760,260 ICPs. This represents more than 45% of coins bought from the total supply.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Internet Computer: Price Performance Till Date

Internet Computer (ICP) appeared on cryptocurrency exchanges and brokerages on 10th May 2021. Since that day, it has experienced multiple percentage swings in bulls and bears. This has resulted in huge gains for some traders and investors while others have experienced substantial losses.

ICP opened on 10th May 2021 at $0 and closed the day with a trading price of $428.36. The cryptocurrency saw huge activity which resulted in a day volume of $290 million. This saw Internet Computer command a market capitalization of $53 billion.

ICP ended May at $110. Then ICP's price dropped below $30 in June, but then went up to $60-$80 in August and the beginning of September.

The cryptocurrency ended 2021 at $25. Currently, ICP is trading at around $20.

There are several pros and cons which you need to consider. This will put you in a position to decide whether you should invest in Internet Computer.

Don't Miss: Internet Computer Price Predictions

The Pros Of Buying Internet Computer

What Are The Merits Of Investing In Internet Computer?

Internet Computer’s rise caught several crypto enthusiasts off-guard. Thousands of traders and investors could not envision the potential of the cryptocurrency in such a saturated market. To put it simply, what was the cause of the rally in ICP's first week of trading? What are the primary drivers which can steer the cryptocurrency into the status of a 100-billion dollar digital asset?

✅ Accomplished 95% of its Milestones before Launch

Internet Computer accomplished almost all of its milestones before launching its protocol and cryptocurrency. Copper, Bronze, Tungsten, Sodium, and Mercury were all tried and tested to the limit to ensure efficiency in the functioning of the blockchain.

This provided access to strong fundamental analysis which propelled traders and investors to take action on the price of ICP. This is the main reason why the crypto trading asset recorded astounding volumes on its first day of trading. It also explains how it was able to break the $50 billion market capitalization.

Cryptocurrencies such as ADA have so far struggled to command a relatively higher price as a result of uncompleted milestones. Although ADAs issuing authority is part of third-generation blockchains which offers relatively faster scalability in terms of transaction processing, Cardano does not have a strong use case and it’s still accomplishing milestones.

ADA currently enjoys a relatively higher market capitalization as a result of the billions of coins associated with the digital asset which is higher than that of Internet Computer.

With the release of the mainnet (Mercury Milestone), the Internet Computer is on a short path to the final process called Genesis which is the decentralization step. Under this, the Network Nervous System would release ICP utility tokens to holders in the form of neurons. Network governance can then be enabled for holders of more than 50,000 ICP utility tokens.

Once this has been set in motion, Internet Computer would grant users of the internet the opportunity to restore an open internet which would make an entirely new breed of software accessible to millions of people. This will draw people's attention to the protocol as well as its novel token and drive the price of the cryptocurrency north.

✅ Unprecedented Support from High-Profile Institutional Players

In the history of cryptocurrencies, blockchain enthusiasts, crypto traders, and investors have not seen such support for a cryptocurrency. The number of high-profile institutional players associated with the Internet Computer project has so far been invaluable to its price and market valuation.

Some of the names include Andreessen Horowitz, an angel investor based in the United States. Andreessen Horowitz has been involved in several projects with the highlight being one of the primary backers of Twitter during its inception.

New York’s crypto-focused hedge fund helmed by Olaf-Carlson-Wee of Polychain Capital backed the project due to its uniqueness in a market focused on just decentralizing traditional payment systems.

Many people have asked the question, where does ICP trade which has aided its exposure and rallying price?

Right after its launch, ICP received huge support by being listed on some of the top cryptocurrency exchanges. This meant that the digital asset landed in the sight of millions of people.

Among the top exchanges that have listed ICP for trading include but are not limited to Coinbase Pro, Coinlist, gate.io, Binance, Huobi Global, OKEx, KUCOIN, CoinEx, and BigONE Exchange. FTX will list ICP as soon as the decentralization of the entire platform is launched.

Coinbase has more than 89 million verified users and Huobi has more than 5 million users globally. What’s more, Binance featured on a list of cryptocurrency exchanges by daily volume on 7th April 2022. Binance finished first with a volume of $24.27 billion. Huobi Global recorded $2.8 billion, OKEx had $6.17 billion, Coinbase Pro recorded $4.36 billion and Kucoin had $3.11 billion for the day.

With such enormous liquidity at the hands of such exchanges due to huge investor interest, ICP could improve its trading price in the future if the crypto boom resumes this year.

Check Out: Is Internet Computer A Good Investment And Should I Invest in ICP?

✅ Well-Structured Team behind the Token’s Issuing Authority

The founder of Internet Computer Dominic Williams has a team of 188 members who are cryptographers, computer engineers, and operational experts. Instead of rushing the project as we have seen many times which normally sees projects hit a wall and never recover, he decided to strategize the launch of his project.

He chose the right time, 2021. Instead of launching the project between February and April where Bitcoin crossed $50,000 for the first time, he chose the 5th month of the year. This was to analyze the maintenance of the crypto boom. Additionally, a thorough analysis of a cryptocurrency backed by a blockchain that is providing an infrastructure in which the internet supports itself instead of relying on cloud hosting providers had to be assessed.

Analyst Yashu Gola on CoinTelegraph pointed out that, “The ICP token gained listing on top cryptocurrency exchanges right after its launch last Friday. That reflected a carefully structured strategy by Dfinity, the Zurich-based nonprofit backing Internet Computer, that landed ICP tokens right into the conscience of everyday traders.”

Such a structured strategy is what has landed Internet Computer into the top 10 largest digital assets globally. At the peak of its price when it reached an all-time high of $750 on 10th May 2021, Internet Computer briefly surpassed crypto trading veterans XRP, DOGE, and ADA and became the 4th largest digital asset in the world.

✅ Platform Provides Great Avenue for Investment by Entrepreneurs

As internet users, we are all aware of the problems as well as costs associated with the centralization of the internet. Technology firms with a high market capitalization as well as big data companies are providing invaluable support to internet users which are helping complete tasks in a fast manner.

With that said access to millions of individual data gives corporate tech-giants the advantage of selling user data which nets them billions of dollars in revenue. With financial resources in the hands of a significant few based in Silicon Valley, apathetic masses are left with few options to be able to explore and harness their skills. Internet Computer would help foster open internet services as well as help in the fostering of new business models. This will aid entrepreneurs to gain extensive access to funding, talent, and networks in the technology field.

With innovative ideas on the table through the entrepreneur’s team, more internet content would be created. This would boost the ecosystem of Internet Computer and with ICP playing an integral role in the computation process of the platform; high user activity would culminate in high activity on the cryptocurrency and its price.

✅ Developers Have a Thriving Platform to Expose Their Creation (Applications)

Internet Computer is providing access to its software ecosystem for developers. The protocol makes it possible for different programs and applications to communicate with each other through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This has been made possible by what is called Canisters.

Canisters are an advanced evolution of smart contracts. Considering Ethereum is the first-mover of smart contracts but there is an evolution of this feature, Internet Computer is giving developers huge mileage by providing them with the needed tools and resources to create and deploy software efficiently.

General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Dixon pointed out during a launch of the Tungsten milestone that “If you’re somebody who’s thinking about where to start a company, I think you should really take a hard look at this space. Because we’re not only changing the platform on what you build, but we’re changing what you can build. It’s a new kind of platform.”

Such endorsement by big names in technology and decentralized finance coupled with the number of quality software solutions that could be running on the internet soon makes ICP a cryptocurrency worth your consideration for investments.

✅ Consumers Have an Array of Options to Choose From While Maintaining Privacy

With the introduction of smartphones, users of the internet have compromised their privacy and ownership of personal data for the use of internet services such as Facebook, Twitter, and social media applications.

This has made central technology companies extremely rich since they use data to sell ads to millions of people which generates billions of dollars annually.

With no strong competition, millions of people complain about privacy issues but little is done to salvage this situation. This is where the Internet Computer comes in to make the internet open again.

Using the advancements of cryptography and distributed computing, ICP offers a relatively faster blockchain that runs at web speed without any boundaries. It aims to restore ownership and more importantly hand control of networks to users of the internet.

If more internet services prioritize privacy and ownership of data for users, millions of people could resort to Internet Computer. This could see the cryptocurrency trade in the price milestones forecasted by analysts and experts in the future.

✅ Scarcity and Popularity of the Digital Asset

Popularity is an extremely essential factor in investing in digital coins. There are more than 17,000 coins on the market. About 20 cryptocurrencies have been heard of by novice traders and investors. ICP through its team got all aspects of its project right in many ways.

Buoyed by the promotional efforts of its issuing authority at World Economic Forums and other technology events is what has brought millions of dollars in liquidity to ICP. Its popularity is what has seen it command a current market capitalization of $4 billion and 36th place on the rank of digital currencies worldwide.

To add up to the price determinants of the cryptocurrency in the future, a potential scarcity in the supply of ICP must be considered. If all coins are purchased and demand exceeds supply, naturally, the laws of economics take hold of an asset and result in a substantial price increase.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

The Cons Of Buying Internet Computer

What Are The Negatives In Investing In Internet Computer?

Despite all the positives and the bullish predictions by some experts, ICP has pitfalls since no digital coin is a perfect asset. What factors should you look at? What are the cons to consider which can help provide answers to the question is Internet Computer a good investment?

❌ Aims to Decentralize the web, but the Protocol is Not So Decentralized

The primary factor of ICPs marketing efforts to potential users is the decentralization of the internet. Unfortunately, activities on the protocol as to how it’s going to be run show the management of the blockchain could rest in the hands of a significant few. This is because the final step which sets the Internet Computer in motion is called GENESIS. To put it simply, it’s the final step of decentralization.

Internet Computer’s blog post found on Medium points out that the decentralization step involves the Network Nervous System enabling more than 50,000 ICP utility token holders to begin participation in network governance.

Considering ICP has a price of around $20 at the time of writing, this means token holders who would be eligible for network governance participation would need to fork out $1,000,000 to be a part of the decision-making crew. This automatically takes out approximately 95% of traders and investors since most of them run on relatively smaller investment budgets.

As a result, high-profile supporters of the project would determine the kind of applications they want to see on the ecosystem of the network. Additionally, they will decide on the kinds of upgrades needed to compete with centralized tech giants.

❌ Its Highly Volatile

Volatility in simple terms means the liability of the price of an asset to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse. The performance demonstrated during its first week of trading where an ICP tested $730.20 as a daily high and $428.36 by the close of the day on 10th May is a testament to the unpredictability of the coin.

As an e-learning organization, we know the number of irrecoverable losses suffered by numerous investors in the past; only invest an amount of money in ICP that you can afford to lose due to the uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrencies in general.

❌ Daily Trading Volume Numbers Are Going Down

The buzz around the cryptocurrency and its issuing authority has gone down as the days after its launch went by. Technical analysts normally employ price actions as a thesis for their analysis to arrive at a future direction of a coin whether the counter is a downtrend, uptrend, or sideways.

You should know that the price actions are incomplete without volume numbers as this plays a crucial role in plotting charts to depict the potential price patterns of a coin.

Internet Computer opened on 10th May and closed at a volume of $290 million. It recorded a trade volume of $1.6 billion on 11th May, $1 billion on 12th May, $886 million on 13th May, $471 million on 14th May, $426 million on 15th May and $362 million on 16th May. At the time of writing, ICP has a trading volume of $180 million.

With decreasing volumes, the price has plunged to levels less than 97.43% of its all-time high.

Volume is an essential factor you should consider as it would help you avoid losses in the future.

❌ Elon Musk as an Indirect Version of a Regulatory Body of Cryptocurrencies

After pumping the price of DOGE to new highs in 2021, Elon Musk plunged the coin with one line, it’s a hustle. In the second week of May, he hinted at consideration for cryptocurrencies with low carbon emissions as options of payments. This was after he had dropped BTC as a payment option for Tesla automobiles.

This brought the entire digital assets market down with BTC falling to new lows in the region of $42,000 to $46,000.

This has led to negative market sentiment for cryptocurrencies. Suppose the market stays unpredictable in the future, there is a huge chance ICP could trade in the range of $15 to $30 for a very long time. It may only be rescued by a crypto boom driven by outside forces. As it stands as John Mac Ghlionn pointed out in a Coindesk article, there is too Musk power for one man.

What Is The Safest Way To Buy Internet Computer?

The safest way to buy Internet Computer is from credible cryptocurrency exchanges and brokerages. Currently, top cryptocurrency exchanges which list ICP for trading are Coinbase Pro, Binance, Huobi Global, Coinlist, WBF Exchange, and OKEx. More exchanges and brokerages have hinted at listing Internet Computer as soon as their last milestone called GENESIS is completed in the coming months.

The Bottom Line - Should You Buy Internet Computer?

Due to the negative sentiment around cryptocurrencies as well as the potential of digital assets on the market, several factors must be considered. Among the factors is risk versus reward. Based on your current budget, do the potential rewards of investing in Internet Computer outweigh the possible consequences of the risks?

Due to the immense prospects of the blockchain which aims to cover all aspects of the internet, ICP is a buy. The development team has structurally strategized their project to reach users of the internet as well as traders and investors of cryptocurrencies.

With that said, the protocol is currently running on possibilities and not certainties. This sees Internet Computer distant from Ethereum in terms of real-world decentralized finance applications known to internet users as well as market valuation.

Internet Computer ICP is going to thrive on the opportunities which would be given to entrepreneurs, developers, and consumers in its ecosystem. The current price of ICP is relatively smaller when compared to ETH and BTC. This presents a great opportunity for investors who missed out on the gains brought forth by buying Ether. For experienced investors, this presents another great opportunity to include another hot cryptocurrency in their growing lists of digital assets.

In simple terms, ICP is an asset with loads of potential rewards although it’s a risky investment.

Digital Coin Price predicts a price of $27.8 for Internet Computer ICP by the end of 2022. Even though it's dropped in prices, Internet Computer is an asset worth buying for the long term with the potential of bringing huge returns at the end of the year.