Difference between revisions of "DFINITY Foundation"

Latest revision as of 22:33, 1 December 2022

DFINITY is a name for the DFINITY Foundation, or more correctly “DFINITY Stiftung”, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, that was originally founded in Zug in October 2016.

Mission

DFINITY contributes technology to the Internet Computer blockchain, provides support for its ecosystem, and advocates for its application as a technology stack. DFINITY holds an endowment of ICP token that are currently worth billions of dollars, which it sells as needed to fund its operations. While DFINITY has no shareholders or members, DFINITY has one mission: foster the advancement and adoption of the Internet Computer.

A stated objective of DFINITY is to create a blockchain singularity, in which over time, the majority of humanity’s systems and services are rebuilt, and reimagined, upon the Internet Computer blockchain using a new form of smart contracts called canisters. DFINITY is held to its mission, which is defined in its notarial deed, by a regulatory framework operated by the Central Switzerland BVG and Foundation Supervisory Authority (ZBSA).

Organization

The organization can be described as Blockchain Maximalist and decentralization-forward. DFINITY runs what is arguably blockchain's largest R&D operation, which employs many famous cryptographers, computer science researchers and senior engineers. It currently employs around 200 full-time personnel, with many working from dedicated research centers in locations including Zürich, Switzerland, and California, and from numerous remote teams. DFINITY is constantly integrating new talent into its team and scaling its R&D effort. By its own estimates, it will grow to employ thousands of R&D and operations staff in the coming years.

History

The name DFINITY derives from Decentralized inFINITY, which was first used by its founder Dominic Williams in 2015 to refer to technical research he had performed with the hope of enabling Ethereum to become a true world computer blockchain. Once it became apparent that a large and highly specialized team would need to perform years of blue sky R&D to realize the world computer vision, DFINITY became a standalone project. Today, the Internet Computer incorporates a blockchain architecture that has been totally rethought from the ground up in order to provide world computer capabilities.

DFINITY has become a go-to organization for talented individuals interested in working at the leading edge of blockchain, computer science and cryptography.

After several years of R&D, which effort continues today, the Internet Computer blockchain underwent Genesis on the 10th of May 2021.

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-The '''DFINITY Foundation''' (or more correctly, '''“DFINITY Stiftung”''') is a not-for-profit organization based in Zürich, Switzerland, which is funded by an endowment worth several billion dollars. Its purpose is to contribute technology and support to the [[Internet Computer]] blockchain and its ecosystem, and to advocate for its mission. While it has no shareholders or members, it acts competitively, like a startup, with a mission to drive a “blockchain singularity”, in which the majority of humanity’s information systems and services are rebuilt and reimagined upon the [[Internet Computer]] using a novel advanced form of smart contracts called [[canisters]]. '''DFINITY''' is held to the purpose defined in its notarial deed by a framework regulated by the Central Switzerland BVG and Foundation Supervisory Authority (ZBSA).
+'''DFINITY''' is a name for the '''DFINITY Foundation''', or more correctly '''“DFINITY Stiftung”''', a not-for-profit organization headquartered in [[Zürich]], Switzerland, that was originally founded in Zug in October 2016.
-The organization can be described as [[Blockchain Maximalist]], decentralization forward, and tech forward. '''DFINITY''' arguably runs the biggest R&D team in blockchain, and employs more famous cryptographers than any other tech organization. Currently the team is around 200 strong, and works from several dedicated research centers in different parts of the world, including Zürich, Switzerland, and locations in California, which are supplemented by many remote teams. '''DFINITY''' is constantly integrating new talent into its world-class team and scaling its R&D effort. By its own estimates, it will grow to employ thousands of cryptographers, computer science researchers, and engineers, as well as operations staff.
+==Mission==
+DFINITY contributes technology to the [[Internet Computer]] blockchain, provides support for its ecosystem, and advocates for its application as a technology stack. DFINITY holds an endowment of [[ICP token]] that are currently worth billions of dollars, which it sells as needed to fund its operations. While DFINITY has no shareholders or members, DFINITY has one mission: foster the advancement and adoption of the Internet Computer.
-The name '''DFINITY''' comes from '''D'''ecentralized in'''FINITY'''.
+A stated objective of DFINITY is to create a blockchain singularity, in which over time, the majority of humanity’s systems and services are rebuilt, and reimagined, upon the [[Internet Computer]] blockchain using a new form of smart contracts called [[canisters]]. DFINITY is held to its mission, which is defined in its notarial deed, by a regulatory framework operated by the Central Switzerland BVG and Foundation Supervisory Authority (ZBSA).
+==Organization==
+The organization can be described as Blockchain Maximalist and decentralization-forward. DFINITY runs what is arguably blockchain's largest R&D operation, which employs many famous [[cryptographers]], computer science researchers and senior engineers. It currently employs around 200 full-time personnel, with many working from dedicated research centers in locations including Zürich, Switzerland, and California, and from numerous remote teams. DFINITY is constantly integrating new talent into its team and scaling its R&D effort. By its own estimates, it will grow to employ thousands of R&D and operations staff in the coming years.
+==History==
+The name DFINITY derives from '''D'''ecentralized in'''FINITY''', which was first used by its founder Dominic Williams in 2015 to refer to technical research he had performed with the hope of enabling Ethereum to become a true [[world computer]] blockchain. Once it became apparent that a large and highly specialized team would need to perform years of blue sky R&D to realize the [[world computer]] vision, DFINITY became a standalone project. Today, the [[Internet Computer]] incorporates a blockchain architecture that has been totally rethought from the ground up in order to provide world computer capabilities.
+DFINITY has become a go-to organization for talented individuals interested in working at the leading edge of blockchain, computer science and cryptography.
+After several years of R&D, which effort continues today, the Internet Computer blockchain underwent [[Genesis]] on the 10th of May 2021.
+==See Also==
+* '''The Internet Computer project website (hosted on the IC): [https://internetcomputer.org/ internetcomputer.org]'''
+* [https://dfinity.org DFINITY homepage]
+* [https://twitter.com/dfinity DFINITY Twitter]
+* [https://medium.com/dfinity DFINITY technical blog]
+* [https://forum.dfinity.org/ DFINITY developer forum]
+* [https://www.reddit.com/r/dfinity/ DFINITY subreddit]