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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-'''DFINITY''' is a name for the '''DFINITY Foundation''', or more correctly, '''“DFINITY Stiftung”''', a not-for-profit organization based in Zürich, Switzerland, that was founded in October 2016.
+'''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 purpose of DFINITY is to contribute technology to the [[Internet Computer]] blockchain, and to support the blockchain's ecosystem and advocate for its mission. DFINITY holds an endowment of [[ICP tokens]], worth several billion dollars, which it sells to fund its operations. 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 new form of [[smart contracts]] called [[canisters]]. DFINITY is held to its purpose, which is defined in its [[notarial deed]], by a regulatory framework operated by the [[Central Switzerland BVG and Foundation Supervisory Authority (ZBSA)]].
+==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 organization can be described as [[Blockchain Maximalist]], decentralization forward, and tech forward. DFINITY arguably runs the largest and most highly-powered 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.
+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).
-The name DFINITY derives from '''D'''ecentralized in'''FINITY''', and was first used by its founder [[Dominic Williams]] in 2015 to refer to applied cryptography research he had performed with the hope of enabling Ethereum to become a [[world computer]] blockchain. Once it became apparent that a large team must perform many years of R&D to truly realize the [[world computer]] vision, DFINITY become a standalone project. Today, the [[Internet Computer]] represents a totally rethought version of public blockchain, which provides many groundbreaking and unmatched new technical capabilities.
+==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]