What is ICON (ICX)? Quick Guide and Overview
This is the first article of our series on ICON, throughout which we introduce the various components and differentiating elements of the ICON project 🌕. In our series, we will cover subjects such as ICONLOOP, Loopchain, Nexus, Nodes and Representatives, Exchanges Listing, Governance, Staking, ICON Incentive Scoring System (IISS), Dapps building on ICON, and more.
Our series will be published and available on the ICON section of our blog and shared in our Telegram group.
We do not aim or pretend for exhaustivity in this article, but rather for a quick introduction of ICON. As you understood, more materials will come, and these will offer a more detailed view of what makes the ICON project so exciting.
What is ICON?
Born in South Korea, ICON is a blockchain ecosystem based on an enterprise blockchain technology called loopchain, developed by ICONLOOP. The goal of ICON is to hyper connect the world. To do this, ICON connects with different independent blockchains with different governance and communities so that they can interact.
This connected network is called the ICON Republic. Within the ICON Republic, one can create its community and blockchain with customized parameters to fit their needs. The connection with the ICON Republic is then taken care of by Nexus and ICON C-Reps, which are community representatives nodes allowing the relationship between independent blockchains within the ICON network.
Through Dapps, ICON is also fully compatible with traditional blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also other permission-based or public blockchains that would want to be part of the network.
Further advantages of the ICON protocol include decentralized governance, the ability to create smart-contracts through a feature called SCORE, and Delegated Proof-of-Contribution (DPoC) — a variant of Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS), through which nodes and token holders can earn extra ICX based on the inflation.
If you wish to acquire some ICON (ICX), the token is already listed on major exchanges such as Binance (withdrawal available) and Huobi (withdrawal not possible yet).
Delegated Proof-of-Contribution (DPoC)
ICON is a proof-of-stake blockchain where the protocol directly rewards nodes and delegates with newly minted ICX. The distribution of freshly minted ICX, through the ICON Incentives Scoring System (IISS), is taken care of transparently by an AI-tool developed by DaVinci, one of the largest AI providers in South Korea.
Starting from August, ICX token holders will be able to benefit from staking during the pre-voting period. From September, they can also delegate or delegate their ICX to representatives (e.g., P-Rep, DApp, EEP) and support the decentralization of the network in exchange for interests on their total stake. Delegation yield varies based on the percentage of tokens being staked in the network. Assuming that 30% of the tokens are staked, delegators can earn up to c.15.8% annually.
Get to know more about ICON
- Stakin P-Rep Proposal
- How to vote for a P-Rep
- ICON Website, where you can also find the whitepaper, yellow paper, and other valuable materials
- The Iconist: dedicated media about ICON and its ecosystem
- Github
- ICON Official Telegram Channel
- ICON Non-Official European Community Telegram
DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. Staking and cryptocurrencies investment involves a high degree of risk, and there is always the possibility of loss, including the loss of all staked digital assets. Additionally, delegators are at risk of slashing in case of security or liveness faults on some PoS protocols. We advise you to DYOR before choosing a validator
