When Will ICP Moon? šŸš€

ICP Jesse
4 min readMar 16, 2022

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Iā€™ve had this tweet stuck in my head since it was published last week. It gets so much right about the future of the Internet Computer, but misses the mark on one crucialpoint: the timeline. BlockchainBoyy argues that the ascendent future is three years out for the Internet Computer. I disagree.

I believe explosive growth is hiding just around the corner, and we could see the ICP token go full ā€œhockey stickā€ at any moment.

Pack your bags, fam; weā€™re headed to the moon. šŸš€

ICP is uniquely poised to become a breakout hit in the next few weeks or months, not years. While the ICP giant quietly sleeps, an entire ecosystem of developers toils behind the scenes, building the next generation of Dapps ā€” any one of which could be market-making, raising the whole ecosystem. In fact, ICP has so many opportunities to break out, it feels like a rigged game. The time to accumulate is now, before the greater market wakes up to its unrealized potential.

So join me on a brief tour of the market segments of interest and the digital construction sites where the next great generation of Dapps hosted on the Internet Computer are currently being built. Want to know what the next BFD on the IC will be? My bet is itā€™s one of these diamonds in the rough:

Social Media & Messaging: DSCVR, Distrikt, Catalyze, OpenChat & Taggr

The Internet Computerā€™s novel blend of blockchain layer, web-storage host, and development platform makes it an ideal place to host the next great social media platform. Distrikt is especially notable for having an iOS-native app built on top of its web-native form, making it even more accessible to mainstream audiences. Thanks to the ICā€™s Internet Identity authentication system, developers can allow logins without requiring a monetary transaction ā€” or even the need to create a wallet ā€” making it a perfect onramp for new-to-crypto users as Web3 barrels towards the mainstream. The killer combination of social-media functionality and blockchain features makes this a big area of innovation and interest. Social media continues to unlock interesting ways to sell and make money ā€” combining it with crypto is a natural evolution of the space, one which can be much more user-centric by embracing the Web3 wallet and ownership model. This also makes these new blockchain enabled social platforms the perfect complement to the growing IC NFT marketā€¦

NFTs: Entrepot, CCC, Memecake & Gigaverse

NFTs continue to be an extremely exciting area of crypto innovation, building utility, access, and value on a foundation of art and blockchain features. New projects on the IC are constantly pushing the medium forward, and that creativity is being rewarded: BTC Flower and OG Medals both made huge splashes and launched hyper-engaged communities. New projects are launching daily, creating an endless stream of at-bat opportunities for the nascent IC NFT market to break out into the mainstream with a ā€œSolana moment.ā€ Internet Computerā€™s on-chain storage and ā€œno gas feeā€ model makes it an ideal place to build and host a community with an NFT component, interlocking features with the expanding social media platforms at the same time. (I have some specific ideas of my own about this space, so look for more from me on this topic in the future.)

Dex Swap Sites: Sonic, Infinity Swap, ICP Swap

The impact of the January launch of Sonic on the Internet Computer was felt immediately. The IC dashboard tracked an explosion of ICP being converted into Cycles as the system came online and opened the doors to the first Dex to launch on the IC. But it wonā€™t be the only game in town for long, as the other efforts come online and the ICā€™s take on Dex Swap sites emerge. What will the token market on IC look like? How will ICā€™s unique features enable creativity on the platform? Will they provide the breakout smash that they did on other platforms? All of these are open questions, but a big hit is a distinct possibility.

Bitcoin Integration: Stoic, Plug & Earth Wallet

Bitcoin is the whale of crypto currencies, the lumbering giant that leads the way for the rest of the market. The Internet Computerā€™s new Bitcoin integration doesnā€™t rely on a bridge or wrapping, but instead uses breakthrough Chain-Key cryptography to allow direct interactions between bitcoin and ICP, unlocking all of the native smart contact abilities of the IC to Bitcoin for the first time. The opportunities are huge as new utilities and liquidity options come online, welcoming experienced bitcoin holders to the IC ecosystem. ICā€™s native wallets are already building support for bitcoin (the system is being beta tested now). When the finished product ships and is available to users, the combination of Bitcoin and the Internet Computer offers the potential for a pivotal breakout.

So to get back to the big question: ā€œWhen will ICP moon?ā€

Soon. Potentially very soon.

Weā€™re just waiting for one more of these areas of interest breakthrough. Which means the time to accumulate is right now.

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