Internet Computer
The Internet Computer was chosen as the base layer for NFID because its smart contracts (which the DFINITY Foundation has named canisters) are the most powerful on the internet today. The protocol is so strong that explaining NFID in this documentation relies on explaining how the Internet Computer works, which is why we included the protocol's specification documents in previous sections.
Internet Computer Smart Contracts (Canisters)
- Can issue delegation chains from passkey signatures, which is the fundamental innovation for secure authentication.
- Can directly interface with HTTPS endpoints, which NFID uses when interfacing with web2 servers.
- Can hold secrets, which NFID relies on to store encrypted data.
- Are extremely fast (2-second update calls where consensus is required, 200ms query calls where consensus is not required), which NFID relies on for consumer-grade UX.
- Can store GBs of data, which NFID will utilize in the future.
- Can directly interface with the Bitcoin (and soon Ethereum) networks and smart contracts.
We're including a list of helpful resources if you're unfamiliar with the Internet Computer and want to learn more:
- Capabilities (opens in a new tab) for a high-level overview of what the network does
- The How It Works reference (opens in a new tab) to take a deeper dive into various topics
- The Internet Computer for Geeks paper (opens in a new tab) for an overview of the entire system
- The HTTP Gateway Protocol Specification (opens in a new tab)
- The Internet Computer Interface Specification (opens in a new tab)
- Roman's blog (opens in a new tab)
- Kyle Peacock's blog (opens in a new tab)