The Internet Computer Protocol from the Dfinity foundation is about to get its first stress test with the scheduled launch of the pioneering Non-Fungible Token (NFT) on the decentralized network dubbed ‘ICPunks’. As unveiled by the project, a total of 10,000 ICPunks are meant to be minted, ushering in a more mainstream use case for the blockchain network.
There are many points of attraction for the ICPunks project. The NFT is billed to be given out for free to eligible ICP community members. As noted, a total of 3,000 of the collectibles will be available to claim, a free gift that has even generated much more buzz for the proposed inaugural NFT launch. The ICPunk project has witnessed increased page visits with analytical data reporting over 89,000 users and visitors to the NFT’s website since it went live.
We started a claiming process for the first group from the whitelist. 🤡
A real stress test for the Internet Computer😎@DFINITYDev @dfinity @dominic_w @beavskis
But this is just the beginning… 🚀 pic.twitter.com/NHoHpp7NxP
— ICPunks (@IcPunks) September 1, 2021
While no sales have been recorded by the protocol, its number of active users per minute is pegged at 9,486, showing increasing demands on the Internet Computer infrastructure.
How Well WIll the ICP Infrastructure Hold?
The launch of the Internet Computer protocol came with a lot of promises. Besides the plan to take on big cloud infrastructure providers including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, the protocol boasts the capability to right the wrongs in existing blockchain infrastructure including Ethereum, Polkadot and Binance Smart Chain.
With its scalable and low latency transaction feature, a number of layer 2 protocols are already making their way onto the ICP platform. The current tilt towards decentralized finance and NFTs is a deeper dive into the capabilities of any blockchain. While Ethereum is broadly being criticized for its high costs of transactions particularly in the minting of digital collectibles, emerging alternative solutions are not known to fair any better as launch events are often characterized by some form of mishaps with the increased pressure on the blockchain.
With the buzz the ICPunks project has garnered thus far, all eyes are on the Internet Computer, with the plan to see if it will be able to make good on its promises. At the time of writing, ICP is changing hands at $65.28, up 2.25% in the past 24 hours.
