# An introduction to Ubiq Ubiq is a peer-to-peer network for employing decentralized computer programs commonly referred to as “smart contracts”. It is a permission-less, public blockchain which operates under an open source spirit of participation. There is no company or individual that owns or maintains control over the network. All functionality, operations, transactions and code are viewable openly to anyone. Participation, whether transferring value or deploying / interacting with contracts requires only an understanding of the system, and some of the network's native token *UBQ* in order to transact. There was no pre-mine coin allocation to anyone ahead of launch, and there was no Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to raise funding to develop the network. There has been zero developer taxes at any point across the history of the network, and the entire effort is purely voluntary and donation based. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://odin.ubiqsmart.com/basics/an-introduction-to-ubiq.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.