DFINITY Foundation

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.

The purpose of DFINITY is to contribute technology to the Internet Computer blockchain, to support its ecosystem, and to 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 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).

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.

The name DFINITY derives from Decentralized inFINITY, and was first used by its founder Dominic Williams in 2015 to refer to applied cryptography work he hoped might be applied by Ethereum to build a real world computer blockchain.