Internet Computer is the work of Dominic Williams, who was inspired by Bitcoin's rise in 2013. He initially worked on a gaming-focused blockchain project called “Pebble,” before developing a bigger idea by 2015: a “World Computer” blockchain that could transform traditional IT infrastructure. In October 2016, he founded the DFINITY Foundation in Zug, Switzerland (later relocating to Zürich).
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2017: a token ledger is created via Ethereum smart contracts, followed by a seed sale (the token was then called “DFN”).
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2018: multiple funding rounds raise a combined roughly $195 million from investors including a16z, Polychain Capital, Electric Capital, and Multicoin Capital; in May 2018, 50,000 registered participants receive a token airdrop.
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May 2020: the DFINITY Foundation announces a $200 million fund to attract developers; December 2020: the alpha mainnet launches.
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May 10, 2021: the official public “Genesis” launch — Williams described the infrastructure as “100% complete” at the announcement; the network launched with 48 data centers and 1,300 nodes, targeting 4,300 nodes by year-end. An ambitious 20-year roadmap was also announced.
IMPORTANT, contested episode: ICP*'s price reached its all-time high on the very day of Genesis (roughly $700), then fell almost continuously afterward. Critics have called ICP one of crypto history'*s largest engineered “crashes”; Williams himself has instead pointed to coordinated disinformation attacks and deliberate smear campaigns against the project during this period (see materials from the investigative platform Crypto Leaks). The true explanation remains disputed to this day — this chapter presents both narratives as claims, without taking a position.