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{% trans -%}I2P Celebrates its 20th Year{%- endtrans %}
===========================================
.. meta::
:author: idk
:date: 2021-08-26
:category: general
:excerpt: {% trans %}I2P has been around for 20 years, let's take a look back{% endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
20 Years of I2P
{%- endtrans %}
============================================
{% trans -%}
It's hard to believe, but I2P has been around for nearly 20 years! From its
beginning as a C project which provided anonymous access to IRC, we've had
hundreds of contributors, accepted checkins from dozens of coders, used 2
main languages, 3 version control systems, experienced a migration of its
crypography, and multiple soft-forks. There have been around 500 registered
sites on the Invisible Web, and countless unregistered I2P sites that were only
accessible via their cryptographic hostnames.
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
Thanks to the participation of users like you, the network has grown from a tiny
group of power users to over 75,000 nodes operated from all over the world,
made of I2P routers bundled in perhaps dozens of applications. Today I2P is
available in on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and has ports for FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and
many other systems. I2P can run on phones and even in SOHO routers (thanks to the
independent C++ implementation of the protocol, i2pd).
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
A Routing Protocol with Flagship Applications
{%- endtrans %}
---------------------------------------------
{% trans -%}
Even before other anonymity projects were providing their own application
bundles, I2P was a tool for building applications that were configured for
anonymity. Over the years, we've leaned on this strength, by expanding our
APIs to support more and more versatile applications. Today, we're still
developing new ways of building I2P into applications.
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
Using the power of the Hidden Services Manager or the SAM API, developers of all
kinds of applications can empower their users with anonymity using I2P. Exciting
downstream projects like Monero's I2P-Zero have made it very easy for developers
to help their users get connected to I2P. Today, I2P helps provide anonymity to
dozens of applications including Bitcoin, IRC, email and multiple file-sharing
protocols.
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
An Anonymous Network By Everyone, For Everyone
{%- endtrans %}
----------------------------------------------
{% trans -%}
I2P has always been a decentralized network, because its obvious that providing
an anonymity network is an intrinsically collaborative process. To illustrate
with the most extreme example, a single computer cannot provide itself
with anonymity, nor can it be a useful network, by definiton. However, building
I2P in this fully-decentralized manner hasn't always been easy.
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
From the beginning, I2P would need to be scalable, and be able to balance itself
so that high-bandwidth nodes wouldn't be able to easily take over the network.
Sybil attacks would leave the realm of academia and we would need to develop
new defenses against them.
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
We've worked very hard to never compromise on this stance, and today every I2P
router helps participate in providing the network with bandwidth resources and
providing the users with anonymity. In doing so, we've learned incredible things
and produced a network which at times has seemed inconceivable.
{%- endtrans %}
{% trans -%}
Celebrating I2P
{%- endtrans %}
---------------
{% trans -%}
Over the next 2 weeks, we've planned some blog posts where we'll explore the past,
present, and future of I2P, highlight applications and tools that build on
and enhance I2P, and showcase the best of our community. Check back here for
more in the coming days!
{%- endtrans %}
* {% trans -%}`The History of I2P
</en/blog/post/2021/08/28/History-of-I2P>`_{%- endtrans %}
* {% trans -%}`Dependency-Free I2P of the Future - Jpackage Bundles and I2P-Zero (from Monero)
</en/blog/post/2021/09/08/I2P-Jpackage-Bundles-and-Zero>`_{%- endtrans %}
* {% trans -%}`Level-Up your I2P use with Encrypted LeaseSets
</en/blog/post/2021/09/07/Level-Up-Encrypted-Leasesets>`_{%- endtrans %}
* {% trans -%}Dividing the Triangle: How I2P Eases Naming and Increases Flexibility for End-Users{%- endtrans %}
* {% trans -%}I2P's Usability Journey{%- endtrans %}
* {% trans -%}Building Bridges - Making Connections with Other Privacy Projects{%- endtrans %}