Engine

OpenChat

Startup

Internet Computer

<a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://bsc.news/post/internet-computer-icp" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Internet Computer (ICP)</a> is used by everyday crypto users, builders, and public bodies. Retail users chat, trade, hold tokens, and stake on it.&nbsp;
Developers and non-coders build apps. Governments such as Pakistan have signed up for their own subnets.&nbsp;
<h2 id="span-span-strong-what-is-internet-computer-strong-span-span">What Is Internet Computer?</h2>
Internet Computer is a blockchain built by the DFINITY Foundation, a Swiss not-for-profit. It launched in May 2021. It hosts whole applications in canisters, which are smart contracts that hold code and data and can serve web pages straight to a browser. Apps pay for computing with cycles, a unit bought with ICP.
<h2 id="span-span-strong-what-do-retail-users-do-on-internet-computer-strong-span-span">What Do Retail Users Do On Internet Computer?</h2>
Most everyday activity falls into three areas.
<h3 id="span-span-strong-chat-and-wallets-strong-span-span">Chat And Wallets</h3>
OpenChat is a messaging app that runs fully on the network. It offers private and group chats, file sharing, and built-in crypto payments in BTC, ETH, and ICP. Users sign in with Internet Identity, a login that uses a fingerprint or security key instead of a password.
OISY is a browser-based wallet incubated by DFINITY. It works across eight networks, including&nbsp;<a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://bsc.news/post/what-is-bitcoin-how-it-works-mining-digital-gold-guide" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin</a>,&nbsp;<a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://bsc.news/post/what-is-ethereum-eth-how-it-works-explained" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ethereum</a>,&nbsp;<a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://bsc.news/post/solana-blockchain-ecosystem-deep-dive" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Solana</a>, and Internet Computer. It needs no browser extension or app download.
<h3 id="span-span-strong-trading-and-memecoins-strong-span-span">Trading And Memecoins</h3>
Odinfun is a Bitcoin memecoin launchpad that runs on Internet Computer. It was announced on January 30, 2025, with a full launch on February 3, 2025. It was built by the Bioniq team, led by co-founder and CEO Bob Bodily.&nbsp;
Users connect a Bitcoin wallet and may never see ICP at all. "The usage of ICP is completely transparent to the end user," Udi Wertheimer of Taproot Wizards, an Odinfun investor, told The Block.
Staking And Voting
Holders lock ICP into "neurons" to vote in the Network Nervous System (NNS) and earn voting rewards. The NNS is the on-chain DAO, an organization run by token votes, that approves network upgrades. Coin Bureau's February 2026 review put the amount locked at over 250 million ICP. Circulating supply is 557.27 million.
WaterNeuron, a liquid staking app, holds about $8 million. Liquid staking gives users a tradable token in exchange for their staked coins.
<h2 id="span-span-strong-how-big-is-the-retail-user-base-strong-span-span">How Big Is The Retail User Base?</h2>
DefiLlama figures for October 7 give a sense of scale:
<ul>
 <li>Active addresses: 3,777 in 24 hours</li>
 <li>DeFi total value locked: $14.99 million</li>
 <li>Stablecoins: $4.33 million, of which 53.07% is USDC</li>
</ul>
However, network-level counts look far larger. Startup Fortune reported 305 billion cumulative transactions on October 4. The two measures count different things, so they should not be compared directly.
<h2 id="span-span-strong-who-builds-on-internet-computer-strong-span-span">Who Builds On Internet Computer?</h2>
Builders come in two types. Developers write canisters in Rust, Motoko, JavaScript, TypeScript, or Python. Santiment ranked ICP second for 30-day developer activity among AI and big-data crypto projects in July 2026, just behind Chainlink. The Motley Fool counted 187 active developers in February.
Non-coders use Caffeine, DFINITY's AI tool that builds apps from plain-English prompts. DFINITY said it handled 3.4 million build prompts in its first three months.
<h2 id="span-span-strong-which-governments-use-icp-strong-span-span">Which Governments Use ICP?</h2>
The Pakistan Digital Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with DFINITY on February 10, 2026. It covers a Pakistan Subnet, a national messenger pilot, and 1,500 Caffeine licenses. A Swiss Subnet with 13 node providers launched in early 2026. DFINITY's Cloud Engine product lets organizations set up their own subnet.
<h2 id="span-span-strong-conclusion-strong-span-span">Conclusion</h2>
Internet Computer's retail users chat on OpenChat, hold assets in OISY, trade memecoins on Odin.fun, and stake ICP to vote in the NNS. Builders and governments use the same network for apps and private subnets. The DeFi and daily-user figures are small next to larger chains, while on-chain revenue is at a record level.
<h2 id="span-span-strong-resources-strong-span-span">Resources</h2>
<ol>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://defillama.com/chain/icp" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DefiLlama</a>: ICP chain TVL, stablecoins, DEX volume and active addresses</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/internet-computer" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinGecko</a>: Internet Computer price and supply</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://internetcomputer.org/ecosystem-spotlight/open-chat/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Internet Computer ecosystem spotlight</a>: OpenChat</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://internetcomputer.org/ecosystem-spotlight/oisy/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Internet Computer ecosystem spotlight</a>: OISY Wallet</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://www.theblock.co/news/ecosystems/2025-03-14-ordinals-taproot-wizards-strategic-raise-bitcoin-pump-fun-runes-icp-odin-346438" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Report by The Block</a>: Taproot Wizards leads strategic raise for Odin.fun</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://www.theblock.co/post/366704/bitcoin-launchpad-odin-fun-exploit" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Report by The Block</a>: Bitcoin-based memecoin launchpad Odin.fun exploited for over $7 million</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://coinbureau.com/review/icp-review" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coin Bureau</a>: ICP Review 2026</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://startupfortune.com/internet-computer-quietly-crosses-300-billion-transactions-as-blast-shuts-down/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Report by Startup Fortune</a>: Internet Computer Quietly Crosses 300 Billion Transactions as Blast Shuts Down</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-things-investors-know-internet-122000501.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Motley Fool via Yahoo Finance</a>: 2 Things Investors Need to Know About Internet Computer in 2026</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://internetcomputer.org/news/media-releases/pakistan-digital-authority-dfinity-partnership-announcement/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DFINITY media release</a>: Pakistan Digital Authority and DFINITY Partner for Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure and AI Software Systems</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://tech.eu/2026/07/27/beyond-the-hyperscale-cloud-dfinity-s-vision-for-sovereign-computing/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Report by Tech.eu</a>: Beyond the hyperscale cloud: DFINITY's vision for sovereign computing</li>
 <li><a style="text-decoration:none" href="https://x.com/chainspect_app/status/2107073987528515681" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Chainspect on X</a>: Post on October 4</li>
</ol>

Who Actually Uses the Internet Computer? A Look At The ICP Community

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