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From Crypto with Kamal, by Kamal Hubbard

Introduction to the Internet Computer

This is Kamal’s video, shown here with his permission. Watch it on his channel, where the comments are.

Kamal Hubbard opens a run of episodes made with ICP Hub North America by explaining the Internet Computer, a blockchain he says was “built by the largest ongoing research and development effort in crypto.” He describes it as “a blockchain you can build anything on,” running at around 280,000 transactions per second, and able to host web services directly on-chain without traditional servers.

He explains chain key cryptography, which lets the network use a single public key and lets smart contracts on the Internet Computer create Bitcoin addresses and move Bitcoin directly, without a bridge. He also points to the Network Nervous System, a DAO built into the protocol that lets the community upgrade the network without a fork. The long-term goal, he says, is a network that replaces traditional IT entirely, “creating a blockchain singularity” that runs fully on-chain.

Transcript

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Who speaks: Kamal Hubbard (A). Transcribed by We Them Media from the original audio, with Kamal’s permission. Speaker letters mark turns, as the model separated them.

These are the speakers’ own words. We have not checked their claims.

0:00Kamal HubbardDon’t close your eyes. I could see everything all of a sudden. Welcome to another edition of Crypto with Kamal. I’m your host, Kamal Hubbard. This And upcoming editions of Crypto with Kamal are sponsored by the Internet Computer Protocol and the folks at ICP Hub North America. ICP Hub North America are major contributors to the adoption of the Internet Computer in the United States and Canada. Some of these editions will cover the basics of and things you should know about the Internet Computer. And other additions will be coverage of the 6th Annual Black Blockchain Summit in Washington, DC. That said, I am so excited to be working with the ICP Hub North America, and I’m looking forward to bringing you all some more great content on the Internet Computer and having some engaging discussions during the Black Blockchain Summit.

0:00Kamal HubbardSo let’s get started. There’s so much to cover, and one thing that I found notable about the Internet Computer was that it was built by the largest ongoing research and development effort in crypto, which has employed many notable cryptographers, computer science researchers, and engineers. The Internet Computer is also touted as a blockchain you can build anything on, clocking in at around 280,000 transactions per second. The Internet Computer is a blockchain that hosts smart contracts. It’s designed to host a new generation of Web3 services and applications that run solely from the blockchain without the need for traditional IT. In this way, the Internet Computer can also become a Web3 orchestrator by interacting with traditional blockchains.

0:00Kamal HubbardAnd recently, the Internet Computer has integrated the Bitcoin blockchain and is working to do the same with Ethereum. I’ll get to that in a second, but to move a little bit forward about what the Internet Computer is all about, it has a completely unique design that reimagines blockchain architecture and the application of modern cryptography by the use of what they call chain key cryptography. This allows the Internet Computer to use a single public key instead of 2. This has huge advantages as it permits any device including a smartwatch, mobile phone, and other devices to verify transactions and authenticity on the Internet Computer network. A longer-term objective is that the Internet Computer will completely replace traditional IT services creating a blockchain singularity.

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0:00Kamal HubbardIn which everything runs fully on-chain in a powerful new form that is unstoppable and cannot be hacked. These smart contracts run at web speed with high levels of efficiency, uniquely thanks to the blockchain architecture enabled by ChainKey cryptography. The Internet Computer smart contracts can process HTTP requests directly and securely to serve interactive web experiences to end users of Web3 services without the need for trusted intermediaries. In another notable advance, the Internet Computer hosts an advanced decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, within its protocols called the Network Nervous System, which provides the community with direct control over network governance and can upgrade the protocol running on its own network nodes without requiring the network to actually fork.

0:00Kamal HubbardAlso, the network’s utility token is known as the ICP token. Recent technological advances have extended the Internet Computer’s ChainKey cryptography protocols that have enabled smart contracts hosted on the Internet Computer to directly interact with other blockchains without the need for dangerous centrally controlled bridges or token wrapping. This is possible, once again, through the use of chain key cryptography that enables blockchains to create public chain keys for which their nodes can create corresponding signatures. Recent work has now made it possible to create chain keys to create transactions on other blockchains. So for example, a smart contract hosted on the Internet Computer can create Bitcoin addresses and directly send and receive Bitcoins on the Bitcoin ledger as though it were hosted by the Bitcoin network itself.

0:00Kamal HubbardAt this time, Bitcoin has been integrated into the Internet Computer framework, and future efforts will enable smart contracts to directly interact with other blockchains such as Ethereum and other Ethereum virtual machine style blockchains as well. In this way, many believe that the Internet Computer will play the role of an orchestration layer that combines different blockchains in the Web3 environment and helps to combine them with off-chain services and systems such as Web2 services and enterprise systems in a trustless way. For end users, accessing Internet Computer-based services is largely transparent. The experience of interacting with a decentralized application is the same as it is on any public or private cloud.

0:00Kamal HubbardFor people creating and managing those Internet Computer-based services, however, the Internet Computer eliminates many of the costs, risks, and complexities associated with developing and deploying modern applications and microservices. In addition, its secure protocol guarantees reliable message delivery, transparent accountability, and resilience without relying on firewalls, backup facilities, load balancing services, or failover orchestration. In some ways, building on the Internet Computer is about restoring the internet to its open, innovative, and creative roots. To focus on new specific examples, the Internet Computer does the following: supports interoperability, shared functions, permanent APIs, and ownerless applications, which reduces platform risks and encourages innovation and collaboration. It also provides persistent data automatically in memory, which eliminates the need for database servers and storage management, improves computational efficiency, and simplifies software development.

0:00Kamal HubbardThe Internet Computer also simplifies the technology stack that IT organizations need to integrate and manage, which improves operational efficiency. All of this is really only scratching the surface of what the Internet Computer is capable of, and I don’t want to get overly technical in this first edition. So if you’re looking for more about the Internet Computer, please visit internetcomputer.org. Also, if you’d like to know more about what’s going on with the ICP Hub North America, you can check them out at icpnorthamerica.org/index.html. That being said, I’m looking forward to this next series that I’m going to be doing with the ICP Hub North America. at the Black Blockchain Summit and giving you more insight into the Internet Computer.

0:00Kamal HubbardSo don’t just make it a good day, make it a great day. A great day with crypto, Crypto with Kamal, and I’ll catch you on the next one. Thanks for tuning in.

That was the whole conversation.

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