Caffeine App to Run on ICP While Interacting with Solana

Dom recently posted on X that the upcoming Caffeine app will allow developers to create applications that run fully on ICP, securely and entirely onchain, while processing tokens and interacting with DeFi on Solana using the ICP chain key. This sparked debate over how to describe the app’s operation: is it “on Solana,” “on ICP,” “on Solana and ICP,” or none of the above?

Community responses quickly clarified the distinction. Dexter pointed out that the correct phrasing is “with,” emphasising that apps cannot run on Solana itself—they can only interact with it. ICP extends its capabilities to interface with Solana, sending transactions and reading data while remaining fully on ICP. Daniel explained that the app qualifies as running on ICP, using Solana only for specific token functions. He noted that claiming an app runs on Solana would require the Solana mainnet to serve as its operational core, which is not the case here.

Other contributors reinforced this point. @AmSpeed_ highlighted that many apps advertised as “built on Solana” actually run on cloud infrastructure like AWS, with only smart contract interactions on Solana. Joseph Hurtado added that while ICP hosts the app, integrating with Solana enhances its capabilities, making ICP with Solana a more powerful solution.

The discussion illustrates the importance of precise terminology in blockchain development, particularly as cross-chain interactions become increasingly common.