What is ICON (ICX)?
ICON facilitates community connections among independent blockchains. ICON defines a community as a network of nodes with a standard governing system. (A node is a computer connected to a Bitcoin network.)
This ecosystem’s community includes cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum, banks, corporations, hospitals, schools, and governments. It is supported by the cryptocurrency token ICX. The South Korean Icon Foundation started the ICON Project in 2017. The project aims to create a network where financial, security, insurance, healthcare, educational, and commerce institutions may communicate and trade.
Understanding ICON
Icon’s ICX ICO in September 2017 raised $43 million. This auction contained 50% of the tokens. In January 2018, the project debuted its blockchain, and ICO participants received their ICX coin in June 2018.
In 2019, ICON introduced IRC16, a token standard that enables users to generate digital tokens (or “coins”) representing equity ownership units using ICON software. Tokenized equity lets a company raise funds by issuing digital assets.
It seeks to create a “digital nation” where economic players may issue and regulate their values under their own rules. The project aims to “hyperconnect the world” on its website by “building one of the largest decentralized networks in the world.”3
The structure of real-world economies inspired the project, where businesses, nonprofits, and government institutions use a national currency while remaining distinct but interoperable. The blockchain technology and ICX cryptocurrency token enable decentralized system participants to converge at a central point, creating an intercom.
A blockchain is a database. How it saves data differs from a traditional database. New data is added to the blocks chronologically. The data-filled block is linked to the previous block.
Although blockchains are generally linked with cryptocurrency, they may be used to store many sorts of information in other fields. While most commonly used as a transaction ledger, blockchains may store any information exchanged. Security, currency, business contracts, deeds, loans, intellectual property, and personal identity transactions can be tokenized.
One network manages each blockchain. This made joining blockchains impossible in the past. The ICON project seeks this relationship. Unlike other centralized payment systems that require businesses to comply, ICON lets communities set their own policies. This reduces adoption obstacles.
Goals
ICON seeks to build a cryptocurrency-powered, interconnected network of individuals. The decentralized exchange (DEX) lets its blockchains swap money.
The DEX reserves money for each blockchain community for real-time value exchange. A.I. sets exchange rates for these transactions. The analytical model and exchange intermediary currency are the native ICX coin.
ICON has five main components: the ICON Republic, ICON communities, C-Reps, C-Nodes, and citizen nodes. The communities are networks of nodes inside a governance system with their own governance structures, nodes, and attributes. Communities also make decisions differently. Bitcoin is consensus-driven, yet financial institutions may be hierarchical.
Nodes maintain the blockchain of every community. The Republic trusts delegates elected by each community to communicate with them. The representative links each community’s blockchain to the Republic. Working community representatives receive ICX.
They govern the network. A blockchain decision-making committee controls activities. Community delegates vote on the government of the Republic. Consider the Republic, the U.S., and each ICON community a state.
Acts do not govern individual communities. However, the ICON Republic controls ICX cryptocurrency minting.
Citizens are blockchain participants without voting rights who can transact inside a community, with other communities, and with the Icon Republic.
The ICON Republic dubs its blockchain the “nexus.” Loop chain algorithms power it—the loop chain links ICON Republic communities. These communities form a consortium and establish rules that enable blockchains to function together.
The Blockchain Transmission Protocol governs how separate blockchains connect with the ICON Republic’s blockchain—the nexus.
Like Ethereum, it allows users to create decentralized apps (DAPPs) on the blockchain’s public channel. When posted on ICON’s DAPP store, any citizen node can download and utilize these apps.
Criticisms
The network has excellent intentions to link communities, but it confronts numerous obstacles. Initially, investors were accustomed to cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2021, traditional, centralized exchanges will still be part of the Bitcoin economy, even though they contradict the decentralized idea of cryptocurrencies. Some investors exclusively buy bitcoins on their preferred exchanges. This might hurt ICX. Many exchanges may not accept ICX because of its intentions.
High competition increases the likelihood that a coin will fail. Like other cryptocurrencies, this network faces tough competition.
Conclusion
ICON is a blockchain technology and network structure that connects disparate blockchains.
Decentralized exchanges link communities to the network.
It faces potential competition from centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
