Agitating for a decentralized internet is simply demanding lesser restrictions and intrusions as it concerns assessing the worldwide web; the original intention for creating the internet. As already stated, the goal of decentralization is to reprogram the entirety of the internet so that it is accessible, affordable, and devoid of central control.
Even though not all blockchain startups will be successful, their individual efforts will further the cause of complete internet decentralization. That said, only a handful of startups and companies have been able to take decentralization up a notch by being listed, two of which are Dfinity (owners of Internet Computer) and ThreeFold. A pretty peculiar pair by all standards.
It’s one thing to know the platforms at the forefront of decentralization, and it’s another to dive deep into their organizational missions. With that, we’ll be taking a look at ThreeFold and Dfinity: why they started, and how they are faring.
The ThreeFold Internet Decentralization Concept
ThreeFold is the pioneer of the global peer-to-peer internet. Though the UN made the internet a fundamental human right in 2016, large corporations have pretty much provided internet coverage that is overly centralized to a few locations. It wouldn’t be out of place to realize that many people are uncomfortable with their data being monetized. But then ThreeFold Foundation enters the scene with a different approach to providing internet connection.
They do it in an interesting way that hopes to save the planet. So they created a ThreeFold Grid which is essentially an interconnection of several individual devices known as 3Nodes. A 3Node device gives its owner the ability to securely and privately connect to the ThreeFold network while also allowing the individual exclusive ownership of their data.
They boast a storage of 78 petabytes (i.e., 78,000,000 gigabytes) and 15,000 live CPU cores. So with a 3Node, anyone can become a part of what now looks like an internet revolution. Kristof de Spiegeleer, founder of ThreeFold, and his team of experts have a planet-oriented approach to providing internet connection. The team seems to prefer protocols and practices that are eco-friendly and highly sustainable.
Their affiliation with Take Action Global among others testifies to this commitment. Now at a casual glance, two essential things seem to serve as the foundation of the ThreeFold mission:
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Accelerating the transition to peer-to-peer internet, and
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Empowering every individual equally to learn from the network, partake of its offerings, and succeed.
Other than their success at eliminating the middleman when it comes to connecting to the internet, another thing that makes them stand out is their very peculiar approach to tackling some of the world’s problems. ThreeFold saves about 90% more energy and 90% less than the international fiber network compared to other frameworks. They also strive to replenish 3 times the carbon credit consumed by the grid.
How is this even possible? Simple. Farmers run each server with a stateless and lightweight open-source operating system called Zero OS. These farmers could be anyone. In return for their activities in maintaining the ThreeFold Grid, they can get rewarded in ThreeFold Tokens known for short as TFT.
A New Internet Computer by Dfinity
ICP is a digital token-based off of the Ethereum blockchain technology created by a nonprofit organization, Dfinity Foundation, with roots in Switzerland. The founders say it allows you to build apps on the platform without necessarily going through the big wigs; Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, or Google. You basically enjoy the benefits of publishing on the internet just like any of these big platforms would. ICP is more advantageous because it is uncensored, highly secure, and flexible with other blockchain platforms and OS.
It seems only a few tokens can make the entrance ICP made; Bitcoin should be green with envy considering the big splash ICP made in the blockchain waters. ICP seems to get many things right with its customer-centric approach to tackling the problems of the IT industry. Some of the issues tackled include internet centralization, data theft and insecurity, and poor user experience. They aim to better these conditions by being a backend host and extending the public network to become a global supercomputer.
While Bitcoin takes approximately 10 minutes and Ethereum 15 seconds (if traffic is fair) to finalize a transaction, ICP is touted to run at web speed. In addition to this, ICP offers what is described as infinite scalability and a security system, seen as an upgrade on Ethereum and EOS. To support the ICP and the decentralization mantra, as well as further combat the dominance of tech giants, Dfinity plans to launch Endorphin. They believe this solution will allow developers create and publish softwares without having these softwares pass through the “hands of technology giants”
Dfinity’s Internet Computer Vs ThreeFold Grid
Both of them are on the same side of the revolution which seeks to change the way people connect to the internet. But they are different from each other. Though these two organisations are interested in improving the internet, they aren’t exactly the same. We’ll look at how they differ right now.
First of all, Dfinity uses decentralized data centres. Dfinity’s data centres are distributed across various locations worldwide. Each of these data centres is made up of nodes which are provided by independent entities that may or may not be in partnership with that particular data centre.
But ThreeFold has a totally different model as they believe that internet decentralization will be better if data can be owned and managed at the unitary level. This would motivate them to invent the 3Node, a hardware device that allows anyone who owns it to connect to the internet from anywhere in the world. So they basically opted for a more inclusive model which prioritizes individual participation over data centre distribution.
Dfinity is obviously the bigger name and more popular of the two having carved out a huge portion of the market for itself. Its Internet Computer token was valued at $45 billion just days after it launched having been traded as high as $731 per token. It still enjoys impressive patronage and usage these days but it must keep an eye on ThreeFold. For instance, while Dfinity proposes decentralized compute, ThreeFold offers peer-to-peer compute and storage.
Infact, at the time of writing, ThreeFold is the only true solution out there for blockchains and blockchain nodes to be truly decentralized down to the unitary, peer-to-peer level. For example Dfinity could run on ThreeFold and find more scalability and efficiency. So while Dfinity is a bigger name, ThreeFold is by far a much bigger solution. And as more and more people are beginning to seek total control of their internet data and space, we’re in for an interesting race to the top between these two and others that will inevitably join the league.
Conclusion
The internet decentralization space has become a space for innovative solutions to tackle the wrongdoings of mega-corporations who seek to make the internet space theirs in some ways. The last half-decade has seen startups like these two mentioned above give these ever-hungry capitalists a run for their money. It is now time for you, our reader, to get involved.
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