The DFINITY project was formed to research ways of enabling public decentralized networks to host a virtual computer of unlimited capacity. This rests upon a new blockchain computer that is similar in concept to Ethereum but has vastly improved performance and, ultimately, unbounded capacity. The starting requirement was that the systems developed should be useful in joining 1 million or more mining clients.

While many private networks will be run by corporations, adding some services will be beyond their practical budgets and expertise. For example, a supply chain system designed to connect suppliers and help them raise trade financing against invoices might usefully incorporate stable currency, identity, arbitration and haulage market functionality. DFINITY allows open versions of such services to be created on its public chain, and then incorporated by private networks in the form of building blocks.

DFINITY introduces algorithmic governance in the form of a “Blockchain Nervous System” that can protect users from attacks and help restart broken systems, dynamically optimize network security and efficiency, upgrade the protocol and mitigate misuse of the platform, for example by those wishing to run illegal or immoral systems.

DFINITY is building a new kind of public decentralized cloud computing resource. Our vision is one of Internet 3.0, in which the fabric of the Internet starts to act as a giant computer with radical new properties that could be extraordinarily disruptive. Enterprise IT systems running on this computer will be unstoppable and won't need to involve complex components such as databases, backup and restore systems.