Yerevan (CoinChapter.com) – Internet Computer (ICP), the blockchain project by DFinity, a Switzerland-based scientific research foundation, took the crypto market by storm, jumping right into the top 10 cryptos by market cap shortly after its launch on May 7. It logged a 56 percent intraday gain and traded at $178 per token during the London session Thursday, as traders jumped aboard.
What fueled the ICP jump?
The past week was a challenge for the crypto market as a whole, as each coin suffered considerable losses. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly dipped down to $30,000 on Wednesday, only to recover to $41,956 on Thursday as of the moment of writing. Ethereum (ETH) lost 25 percent overnight on the same day and recovered to $2,916 in the early European session Thursday. Dogecoin followed suit with a 42 percent loss before recovering back to $0.41 on Thursday.
Read more: Bitcoin Price Recovery Cut Halfway as China Ban Worries Bulls
Despite the partial recovery, BTC and ETH still didn’t present a confident bullish bias. The overall instability indicated the risk of further decline. Investors and traders sought an alternative route to secure their assets and hedge against the crashing market. The opportunity presented itself shortly, as ICP debuted on Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges, on Monday, with the initial price of $630.
Moreover, the Swiss Sygnum cryptocurrency bank announced it is going to offer banking services for the Internet Computer utility tokens. The institution will launch spot and derivatives trading of ICP in the second phase of the inclusion process.
Traders jumped aboard the Internet Computer train for short-term profits. As of the moment of writing, ICP is the 9th largest cryptocurrency by market cap (more than $24 billion).
What is ICP?
The Zurich-based DFinity has been on the crypto scene since 2016. It was founded by Dominic William, who was initially a game designer and blockchain scientist. The foundation launched Internet Computer as an alternative smart contract network, with an aim to extend the functionality of the public internet.
When the Internet Computer project’s token was first filed on Coinbase, it jumped right up to 4th place with a market cap north of $44 billion. However, some experts believe the Coinbase listing alone “is not sufficient to keep the price momentum in place”. The token subsequently dropped from intraday $426 on May 11 to $123 on May 19.
After the market crash, however, the token was able to recover partially and was trading at $195 in the European session Thursday.
ICP presented an opportunity for traders to secure their assets amid the stressed crypto market. Backed my Swiss Sygnum Bank, the token was able to crack it’s way into the top 10 cryptocurrencies in record time. Despite the losses from it’s introduction price, ICP is the traders’ choice token for the day.
Read more: Internet Computer (ICP) Sees Stellar Market Cap Entry Sour As Sentiment Turns Bearis
