What is ICON?
In this ICON coin review, I will thoroughly cover the ICON blockchain and its native ICX coin. ICON is a blockchain network that utilizes Smart Contracts and is a platform that can be used for creation of dApps. While yes, it really looks like an Ethereum or EOS copy, it is far from that. ICON really differentiates itself with the feature of ‘hyper-connecting’. It aims to make it possible for many blockchains to relay information between themselves by interlinking. Blockchain projects are on the rise, but they are mostly singular and isolated, making different businesses have a hard time interact between themselves. The native to the blockchain coin is ICX or also referred as ICON coin, used for fuelling the network during transactions. The maximum supply is the same as the total supply of the coins – 800,460,000 ICX.
Advantages
The main advantage of the network is the ICON Wallet, that can operate in real time through a decentralized exchange, called DEX. Some of the other perks are:
- Great usability
- Scalability due to the possibility to link blockchains together
Disadvantages
Unfortunately there is not much info regarding the flaws of this blockchain, which is a disadvantage by itself. Here is what else I could find as a deficiency:
- The network is experiencing very imbalanced growth, which may be the biggest shortcoming
- There is no clear future goal or at least idea for the project
History and Evolution
The ICON cryptocurrency was developed by a well-founded FinTech firm called Dayli Financial Group. The whole project aim was to interconnect the world of blockchains together. To do this, the team is building a massive platform that will allow different blockchains to interact via Smart Contracts. Additionally, communities will be able to connect with each other using the ICONs loopchain technology. Basically, the plan is to provide a platform where everyone can operate regardless of business or other stature. A complete singular platform for everyone.
The ICON team consists of eight advisors with Don Tapscott as one of the advisors and KJ Eee, who is the foundation council. Tapscott is one of the world’s leading authorities on innovation, media, and the economic and social impact of tech. KJ Eee is the CEO of DAYLI Intelligence and the founder of Nomad Connection, which is the company behind Zimly (p2p media service).
Icon’s Future
There are big plans for the ICON crypto network. The team is planning to expand their U-coin to include 10 participating universities for the end of 2018. They are also planning to launch the second service of the financial investment consortium and organize the third developer’s meetup.
Icon Blockchain
ICON’s blockchain that constitutes all projects is called Nexus. It is a collection of communities that are linked, allowing not only interconnectivity, but also network scalability. The loopchain-based decentralized network supports a quick and fork-less consensus through a mechanism called Loop Fault Tolerance (LFT), which supports the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT). Faster consensus becomes possible by combining multiple nodes with mutual trust into one group. The governance is also customizable by having the freedom to set the number of votes allocated for such a group, which gives the ability to establish various consensus systems.
Icon Nodes
Nodes are a very important part of any network. They are the pillars that hold everything together. In the ICON blockchain there are three types of nodes – Community, Citizen and Full nodes.
- Community Node – this is the building block for any community. These nodes affect the consensus or decision-making process of the governance in the network. Community Nodes are available to both individuals and organizations. The node policies are determined by the members of each community, something like a local government.
- Citizen Node – they are a part of the ICON Republic or said in other words – the bigger picture. Anyone can participate as a citizen node via dApps created on the loopchain. Citizen Nodes do not have any voting rights and can only create transactions. If the conditions are met, a C-Node can be chosen as a Representative (C-Rep) gaining the ability to vote.
- Full Nodes – they are like in other networks. Also called Full Validation Nodes, they do just that – validate all transactions and blocks before they are added to the blockchain.
How to get ICON
The ICX coin is listed on more than 20 exchange platforms in the world in pairs with major cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH. Unfortunately, there is no current exchange that offers the ability to buy ICX with fiat money, so you will need to first buy the other coins and use them to trade.
Where to buy ICON
You can find ICX in pairs with other coins on some of the biggest exchanges like Binance, DragonEX, Huobi etc.
What the team behind the ICON coin is trying to create can be considered something of a holy grail for interconnectivity of blockchains. Their vision of the future is a world with completely decentralized economy and markets where there is no need for middle men like banks to be a part of the process. If you believe in this future, I think that you have found the project you were looking forward to invest in.
| Exchange | Cryptocurrencies | Fiat Money | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Binance
|
Bitcoin + 3 more | – | Trade now |
|
huobi
|
Bitcoin, Ethereum | – | Trade now |
|
Dragonex
|
Tether | – | Trade now |
Wallets for ICON
If you decide to invest and obtain ICX coins, you will need a wallet to hold the coins. Wallets are a software program that is used to store two keys. The first one is the private key, which you can use to access your funds on the blockchain. The other is the public key which is used for receiving cryptocurrencies.
The official ICON wallet is called ICONex, which was launched in February 2018. Initially it was available as a Google Chrome browser extension with the plans to expand to Android and OSx in the future. You can download the official wallet from here. Please remember that backing up your wallet is very important as it adds another security layer to your funds. Since it’s a Chrome extension, you can simple download your keystore file, which contains the information.
Alternative Wallets
Alternative wallets are developed by 3rd parties that either specialize in that or a part of the community of a blockchain. These wallets can offer different features that can suit any user’s taste from a different user interface to supporting multiple types of coins.
Mobile Wallets
Web Wallets
Hardware Wallets
Staking ICON
The ICON network uses the Loop Fault Tolerance (LFT) consensus mechanism which is an incentive system resembling the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) mechanism. It requires coin holders to vote for delegates, who are responsible for validating transactions and securing the blockchain. It is planned to move to a standard PoS system, but currently the timeline is not known.
Icon Network Security
This is a relatively new project and there is no info on any major security issues it possesses. It is noteworthy to mention that due to the LFT consensus, the possibility of malicious actions is lower than the average for other blockchains.
News and Useful Links
If you would like to stay up to date with all news regarding the ICON project, you can start at the ICON Foundation official website and their official twitter @helloiconworld.