In October, we observed a significant surge in demand for computation on ICP. This increase in the Cycle burn rate is a strong indicator of growing adoption, developer engagement, and heightened interest in the project. While this is certainly positive news, it also presents a set of challenges.
In this article, we will explore all relevant updates, data, charts, metrics, and indicators pertaining to ICP and the broader ecosystem. We will also highlight some of the key challenges we are currently facing and detail the proactive measures DFINITY is implementing to address these issues. The team aims to ensure continued growth, development, and progress toward a sustainable future.
Let’s begin by reviewing the most significant metrics for October:
In October we have burned 96K ICP, which is the second largest monthly burn of ICP since Genesis.
This is the YTD comparison of the burned #ICP:
In October, ICP generated $839.5K in fees, marking the second-highest monthly revenue in the protocol’s history.
Source: tokenterminal
Currently, ICP stands out as one of the top-performing Layer 1 protocols in terms of revenue for the month of October. The following projects have generated less monthly revenue compared to ICP.
Source: tokenterminal
In October, 180,000 Canister smart contracts were added, marking the highest number recorded this year. An increase in Canister smart contracts speaks to the growth in developer activity on the network. This is the YTD comparison of the new monthly registered Canister Smart contracts deployed on ICP:
In October, ICP reached a significant milestone, with the ICP Blockchain having processed 3.9 billion blocks since Genesis. Here is a comparison of block times
(in seconds):
[Source: chainspect]
According to ICTerminal, 43,592 new ICP addresses have been added this month. Retail investors continue to accumulate ICP, with the number of significant wallets holding at least 10, 100, or 1,000 ICP reaching an all-time high. [Source: icterminal]
In October, ICP was recognized by the Phoenix Group as a top 10 performer in social activity across key narratives, including DEPIN, DeFi, RWA, NFTs, and DAOs.
Moreover, ICP has reached various milestones and All time highs in October as:
Ethereum-Equivalent Transactions: ICP achieved 2.5 million Ethereum-equivalent transactions per second (TX/s). Each transaction on ICP typically performs richer and more computationally intensive operations compared to most other blockchains, with ICP completing ~80x the computational work per transaction compared to Ethereum.
Block Finalization Rate: The finalization rate reached an all-time high of 77 blocks processed per second.
Cycle Burn Rate: The cycle burn rate peaked at 2.9 trillion cycles burned per second during October.
Total Transactions: Since Genesis, ICP has successfully processed 15 million transactions.
Canister State Size: The canister state on ICP has grown to 6 Tebibytes (TiB).
MIEPs (Millions of Instructions Executed Per Second): MIEPs reached an all-time high, with the average MIEPs providing an estimate of the significant amount of useful computational work performed.
In October 2024, the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) demonstrated remarkable developer engagement, positioning itself as a leading project in the crypto space. This surge in activity is evidenced by the addition of 180,000 Canister smart contracts—the highest monthly increase this year—indicating a robust expansion in developer participation.
Further highlighting this growth, the ICP developer forum has become a hub for active discussions and collaborations, with numerous threads addressing technical advancements and community initiatives.
Additionally, multiple sources labeled ICP as the most active project in the Crypto space for the month of October:
In October, a comparative analysis of Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) against competitors such as Solana, NEAR Protocol, and SUI revealed that ICP may be significantly undervalued in the current crypto market.
Why have blockchains like NEAR, Solana, AVAX, and Polygon (currently or at some point in the past) relied on Arweave for data storage? The answer is straightforward:
- They cannot store data directly on-chain
- On-chain storage is prohibitively expensive
In contrast, #ICP enables data storage directly on-chain at a highly affordable rate of just $5 per GB per year.
Why is On-Chain Storage So Important?
Cost-Effective: Storing data on ICP is incredibly affordable compared to traditional off-chain solutions.
Fast: On-chain storage ensures rapid data retrieval and seamless integration within the blockchain ecosystem.
Secure: On-chain data storage provides enhanced security, reducing the risk of data loss or tampering.
This makes ICP’s on-chain storage a game-changer in terms of cost, speed, and security.
In May 2024, ICP was over 1,050 times away from achieving deflation. By October 2024, this gap has narrowed to approximately 15 times, indicating significant progress toward a deflationary state.
This advancement reflects increased adoption and usage of the ICP network, leading to higher cycle burn rates. As more cycles are burned through network activity, the supply of ICP tokens decreases, moving the protocol closer to deflation.
The narrowing gap from 1,050x to 15x within five months underscores the growing utility and demand for ICP, highlighting its potential for a deflationary future.
According to Dominic Williams, ICP has experienced a remarkable 500% year-over-year growth in computational activity, underscoring its rapid adoption and scalability.
This expansion is supported by a robust global infrastructure, with over 130 companies operating node machines that maintain the ICP network.
This extensive network of node providers enhances the protocol’s decentralization and resilience, contributing to its growing prominence in the blockchain ecosystem.
This is of course great news, but also leads to some challenges. We now see that there are quite some subnets that are running at or almost at maximum compute capacity.
DFINITY’s suggested next steps to improve the handling of high load on certain subnets on mainnet:
In alignment with a recently approved motion, DFINITY suggested the following pricing adjustments:
The estimated impact on selected applications suggests a total cost increase ranging from 15% to 70% based on the proposed new pricing, aligning with the increase proposed in the motion proposal.
Moreover, as can be seen from the table, there is a lot of activity on each subnet, but each subnet acts well within the limits set for it. There is currently a limit of 120’000 canisters per subnet, and a limit of 750 GiB for the subnet state size. Core protocol engineers are actively working on lifting these limits.
In addition to opening up existing subnets for canister deployment, additional subnets can be added to make even more capacity available on the IC network. DFINITY has proposed to increase the number of application subnets in the target topology by 20 additional subnets, to be prepared to provide additional capacity as demand keeps growing.
The proposed adjustments are designed to address current scalability challenges, laying the groundwork for mass adoption and setting the stage for a deflationary future.
In October 2024, ICP experienced a significant surge in cycle burn rates, indicating increased adoption, developer activity, and user engagement. Notably, even when excluding the subnets hosting high-traffic applications like BOB and BURN, the cycle burn rate continued its exponential growth throughout the year. This trend underscores the expanding utilization of ICP across a diverse range of applications and services, reflecting its growing prominence in the blockchain ecosystem.
Key Highlights from October
Swissquote Offers ICP: Swissquote, a leading Swiss financial and online trading services firm, now offers ICP to its clients. In 2023, the company reported net revenues of CHF 531.4 million, a pre-tax profit of CHF 255.4 million, and client assets totaling CHF 58.0 billion.
KongSwap Official Launch: The highly anticipated launch of KongSwap has taken place, bringing new opportunities to the ecosystem.
Top DAO Activity on ICP: According to DefiLlama, 9 out of the 15 most active DAOs globally operate on ICP. Notably, the Network Nervous System (NNS) is one of the largest DAOs in the crypto space, managing over $1.9 billion in locked assets.
Chainspect Dashboard Integration: Chainspect has successfully integrated #ICP into its analytics dashboard, enhancing data insights for the community.
OpenChat & Token Terminal Partnership: Through its collaboration with Token Terminal, OpenChat continues to prioritize transparency, turning it into a competitive advantage and building trust with its expanding user base.
Decide AI has added more than 7K Verified Unique users in October.
GLDT Launches as the World’s First Fully Gold-Backed, Decentralized Gold Token Governed by a DAO
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