Cryptocurrency startup Dfinity is set to unveil an “internet computer,” which it says can provide a faster, cheaper alternative to Ethereum and can rival Amazon Web Services and other cloud computing companies, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The company’s self-described internet computer is a group of technologies designed to support next-generation decentralized apps and services currently under development in the blockchain space.

Wilson Withiam, an analyst at cryptocurrency research firm Messari, said, “A lot of people are looking for the next, best thing — what is the newest, shiniest token on the market. It seems absurd for a network that’s just launched. But on the other hand, it’s a high-profile project.”

Ahead of the internet computer’s launch, futures trading in the tokens that will make it run were pointing to the possibility that they could become one of the world’s highest-value cryptocurrencies, with trading at one point indicating an aggregate value topping US$100 billion.      

Bud David Nage, a principal at digital asset investor Arca Funds, was skeptical about Dfinity’s prospects, saying, “It does not seem they are doing anything new. The market has already matured and produced real applications that have uses today.”

He added that aside from Ethereum, other applications had established reputations in the digital asset space, including Polkadot, Solana and Flow.

Yet Dfinity founder Dominic Williams insisted that the internet computer was a single platform for so-called Web 3.0, describing it as a complete set of technologies that could duplicate what Ethereum and others were doing. He said Web 3.0 could rival technology giants such as Google and Facebook.