NTC, the token representing one trillion Internet Computer (ICP) cycles, is currently trading below its burn value on the NTN decentralised exchange. At the time of writing, the burn rate for converting ICP into cycles sits at $1.44 per trillion, while NTC is listed on the open market for $1.29.
This means users can acquire computational cycles at a discount by purchasing NTC directly, rather than burning ICP to mint them. For developers and dapp operators using cycles to run smart contracts on the Internet Computer, the lower trading price offers a more cost-effective way to top up resources.
The gap between the burn price and the secondary market rate reflects natural supply and demand shifts. Some NTC holders may be exiting positions or rotating liquidity, while others may see this as an opportunity to secure compute power more cheaply. It also reflects broader market behaviour around resource tokens that are tied to fixed functions, rather than speculative utility.
Cycles are used to power computation on ICP, similar to gas on other blockchains. Unlike typical token models, cycles are designed to maintain price stability in relation to real-world costs. The NTC token wraps these cycles into a standard format, allowing them to be traded, transferred and pooled on decentralised platforms.
The current discount on NTC could appeal to infrastructure teams looking to lock in computing costs ahead of development milestones, or simply take advantage of short-term pricing. It also highlights how decentralised resource markets can sometimes offer more flexibility than protocol-native minting.
While this pricing may shift, it reflects a living market where users have choices on how to acquire compute capacity. Whether that balance favours buyers or burners at any given time depends on liquidity, volume and how actively NTC is used across apps and services built on the Internet Computer.
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