ICON (ICX) is a blockchain technology and network framework designed to connect isolated blockchains. ICON’s aim is to link the world’s blockchains and enable an ecosystem of decentralized exchanges.
Blockchain is the technology that enables the existence of cryptocurrency (among other things). Bitcoin is the name of the best-known cryptocurrency, the one for which blockchain technology was invented. A cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange, such as the US dollar, but is digital and uses encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds. A blockchain is a continuously growing list of records called blocks. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block.
A blockchain must be copied to every single member participating in that network so that all members are updated on its contents – ie everyone must have exactly identical data at any particular time. This means that it acts as an open, distributed ledger that comprises all transactions occurring in real-time in one single database.
South Korea’s ICON (#ICONProject), a blockchain startup that survived the crypto bubble, is one of the few blockchain companies that have emerged. In leading the way towards a blockchain-powered future, it has demonstrated a strong commitment.
Through its plans, ICON intends to establish itself as a central pillar for integrating blockchain technology into society and the economy. ICON’s plans and its journey ahead can be understood better by looking back a bit.
1. ICON (ICX) journey So far
BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
In addition to Bitcoin, which was the first cryptocurrency, blockchain technology was also introduced. While blockchain and everything else was scaling the heights of the brave new world, digital currency cast a huge shadow. Eventually, however, it became apparent that blockchain played a key role in decentralization. ICON and many other companies were born on the realization that blockchain could bring about many efficiencies.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS BLOCKCHAIN SUPPORTS
In addition to cryptocurrencies existing and being sent between crypto wallets, blockchain technology also allows them to be decentralized. In some ways, it can be viewed as a highway for digital currencies, but there is more to it than that.
A highway for data transmission and storage, as well as a rapid and secure method of transferring data. A combination of these characteristics enables the development of solutions that leverage the power of blockchain for unprecedented efficiencies in numerous industries. By leveraging decentralized technology, ICON aims to develop such solutions.
THE PURPOSE OF THE ICON (ICX) IS TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF BLOCKCHAIN’S OPPORTUNITIES
ICON (ICX) and other blockchain startups are kicking their development into high gear now that the public’s attention has shifted to Bitcoin and its advantages, allowing them to demonstrate the technology’s capabilities. Government projects make up the majority of the opportunities ICON is pursuing. A major commitment has been made by the South Korean government to invest heavily in the blockchain sector.
In 2020, the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) and the Ministry of Science will fund ten blockchain projects identified by the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA). It is anticipated that the Korean government will invest approximately KRW 600 million in each blockchain project, totaling KRW 6 billion. In this way, blockchain technology has gained the confidence of the South Korean government, which is exciting.
Among the 10 blockchain projects are:
- System of welfare management for the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
- Electric batteries in Jeju will be managed by a system that manages their life cycles.
- A platform for autonomous vehicles in Sejong City.
- Using smart technology to control sewer water quality in Busan.
- A mutual trust system operated by the National Highway Authority.
- System for managing chronic diseases in Gangwon Province.
- A platform for data on food safety developed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
- A blockchain-based regional public service project in South Gyeongsang Province.
- Producing and distributing crops under the Rural Development Authority’s management system.
- A digital evidence management system used by the country’s police force.
South Korea will host a cryptocurrency conference in February 2020, another indication that digital currencies and blockchain are taking off in the country. There was controversy surrounding the event since the UN warned that attending it could violate international sanctions.
2. Adoption of blockchain technology: ICON (ICX) pushing the agenda
In order to facilitate blockchain adoption, ICON (ICX) is aggressively pushing forward with its plans. A development roadmap update was released in December 2019 that highlighted some of these plans. A blockchain-based adoption agenda aims to enable various sectors to become more efficient by adopting blockchain-based solutions. Several key players have already expressed interest in the adoption agenda.
For example, Pohang University of Science and Technology has already adopted ICONLOOP’s BROOF service, which facilitates the issuance of diplomas, as a practical solution. With this solution, employers will be able to search for certificates more easily and digitize the diploma issuance process.
Fraudulent certificates will also be discouraged. Using blockchain-based solutions as a social integration tool is one of the use cases that demonstrate how they can be used. Additionally, ICONLOOP announced recently that it has secured anti-spam contracts with the Korea Internet and Security Agency, Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and 15 banks.
ICONLOOP’s Chain Sign blockchain solution and Cyberdigm will be used by the partners in the deal. Unlike Cyberdigm, Chain Sign focuses on contract management, as its name suggests. Blockchain-based digital contracts are being brought into the mainstream through the use of smart contracts technology. The blockchain expansion efforts of ICON are not limited. Below are some of the plans it has for various industries or segments:
3. Is there something holding the market back?
CONCEPTS FOR SPECULATIVE TRENDS
During the early stages of blockchain technology, people were unaware of its potential outside of digital currencies because the technology has been heavily associated with cryptocurrencies. Additionally, cryptocurrencies, driven primarily by speculation, overshadowed the technology. Technological advancement was stifled by industries and market influencers.
INVESTIGATION WITH CAUTION
As a result of the speculation in the market, blockchain suffered since it encouraged caution. In addition, the technology was relatively new, so industries were hesitant to invest in something that could potentially negatively impact their performance. Technologies that have been tested and proven are more likely to be invested in by industries.
THE TIMING OF THE ICON (ICX)
It is imperative that all good projects have the right timing; otherwise, they will fail. In order to execute its strategy, ICON awaited the right moment. Due to a growing understanding of blockchain and its potential benefit, blockchain projects are now gaining traction. Consequently, it is now the right time to make moves since the atmosphere is changing in favor of technology.
4. HOW TO SURVIVE OR THRIVE AFTER THE CRYPTO BUBBLE POP UP
DISTINGUISHING JOKERS FROM REAL INDUSTRY CHANGERS USING THE CRYPTO BUBBLE
During the time when cryptocurrency markets were booming, there were many blockchain projects and startups. The crypto bubble popped, however, and most of them failed along with it. Consequently, the projects without robust strategies were automatically discarded, leaving only the serious ones. One of the companies that are still going strong is ICON.
A COMPARISON WITH THE DOT-COM ERA
Due to the boom associated with the advent of the internet age, the crypto bubble has been compared to the dot-com era. The early days of startups were a time when enticing growth plans attracted investors. Nevertheless, some were not able to survive the bubble burst, but the story did not end there.
As the internet has evolved, it has become something far different from what it was originally envisioned. Most importantly, it’s a very lucrative technology. In the same way, blockchain displays similar trends as the dot-com era’s initial years.
5. WHY ICON BLOCKCHAIN WILL PROBABLY SUCCEED IN THE MARKET
THE DEVELOPMENTS OF ICON (ICX)
Among the most notable developments of ICON is ICONbet. This DApp is based on ICON’s protocol and is designed for the gaming industry. Due to ICONbet’s fast-paced growth in transaction volumes, the blockchain startup expressed excitement over its growth. In the blockchain startup network, it is the leading DApp. ICON hopes to steer towards a future where decentralized applications are commonplace.
THE INTEGRATION OF ICON (ICX) INTO SOCIALISM AND ECONOMICS
As far as ICON’s strategy is concerned, it seems to be based on segments that directly address societal trends. Through its partnership with POSTECH, certificates and diplomas can be issued digitally and are a direct benefit to society. Aspects such as gambling, which are already deeply ingrained in society, can also be improved with digital contracts.
ICON is leading the way toward digital contracts, which will address a lot of issues while saving resources like money and time, since contracts will be processed within minutes, if not seconds. It will be more efficient to use this expedited and secure approach. This technology can be used in a variety of areas by ICON, and it plans to do so in the future.
CHAINLINK INTEGRATION WITH ICON (ICX)
As part of its expansion strategy, ICON intends to work with high-profile partners, such as Chainlink, which is one of the top Oracle solutions. In addition to facilitating smart contract interactions, Oracles also facilitate the interaction with systems outside of the native blockchain. With Chainlink, developers can integrate smart contracts with off-chain systems custom-made.
If you’re wondering why the partnership is so important, it’s because it allows the two chains to work together in real-world conditions. Data from different blockchains can be accessed via the ICON app, for example. Upon successful completion of a transaction on a separate blockchain, payment can be made on another blockchain. By partnering with ICX, ICON DApp-based financial products will be easier to develop.
ICON’S INTEROPERABILITY APPROACH
Blockchain community members have recurrently discussed interoperability. In a fragmented blockchain environment, users would face a variety of problems, especially since there are so many projects. The idea of interoperability was developed by developers to make communication between blockchains and blockchain-based solutions easier. BTP (blockchain transmission protocol) is ICON’s interoperability solution.
Version 1.0 of BTP
As part of its Roadmap update, ICON revealed that it would release its BTP version 1.0 plans soon. BTP technology will be commercialized by ICON in the first half of 2020. Through this technology, public and private blockchains can communicate with one another. It has made great progress so far for the blockchain startup. A block structure upgrade was released by the blockchain startup at the end of 2019, which added BTP capabilities.
Among these capabilities are cross-chain communication capabilities between heterogeneous chains. A more stable version of the feature is being worked on by the company. Having been affected by a leader node initialization bug, the feature was temporarily halted, but the issue was quickly fixed.
STAKING ON MOBILE DEVICES
Blockchain startup ICON announced its October Roadmap update revealing that mobile staking has already been developed. However, the update announced that quality assurance was still being conducted before the developed features could be released. As ICON had stated, the features would be released in a matter of weeks, and they were released by the end of the year.
MyID IS LAUNCHED BY ICONLOOP WITH PARTNERS IN MAJOR ECONOMIC SECTORS
ICONLOOP, the parent that is responsible for its development, as well as ICONLOOP itself, looks forward to an exciting 2020. MyID, a blockchain-based identification service, is expected to be launched at the end of the year by the latter. In November 2019, it established MyID Alliance, which drew more than 39 partners, including those from manufacturing, e-commerce, securities, and finance, among other industries. Incorporating MyID into their ecosystems will allow the partners to guarantee the trustworthiness of their decentralized IDs. Together with MyID partners, ICONLOOP hopes to achieve three primary mission goals.
- Authentication of the financial sector and trust in the business sector to facilitate business expansion.
- Developing user cases and solving users’ inconveniences is key to user-centric design.
- Focus on globalization: MyID’s business model aims to help countries expand by connecting their IDs and bringing them together.
MyID is managed by Jay Kim, ICONLOOP’s Chief Financial Officer. MyID is an important step toward achieving a digital ID ecosystem based on blockchain technology, according to ICONLOOP’s CEO in a statement. In addition, Mr. Kim pointed out that the partnership includes both financial services firms as well as non-financial firms.
Due to the fact that MyID Alliance is the first consortium ready to expand the use of digital ID into mainstream markets, the firms that have partnered with the project decided to get involved. Since MyID is highly secure, it makes sense that financial institutions, insurance companies, and security firms would jump on board.
Authentication is also made easier with this solution. In South Korea, the Financial Services Commission has deemed it to be the only method for verifying identification that can be applied throughout the financial sector.
THE FUTURE OF MYID LOOKS BRILLIANT
In light of the fact that MyID has already attracted several partners, things are looking good for the company. In the future, ICONLOOP hopes to attract more firms to its platform. By the end of the year, the blockchain startup expects to have more than 100 partners, and by 2022 over 250.
Samsung, for example, would be an important company for ICONLOOP to attract with MyID. The authentication platform is quite robust, so this scenario is not out of the question. There will likely be a lot of interest from major companies. MyID’s popularity would be boosted and the globalization agenda would be contributed to by the involvement of big firms. This would be a huge deal for ICONLOOP.
Having significant companies like Samsung as MyID partners would boost ICONLOOP’s prospects. ICONLOOP’s other blockchain-based projects would benefit from such a move as well, which would encourage investors to jump aboard. These projects will hopefully also gain global recognition as a result of this ripple effect.
6. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR INVESTORS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ICON’S GROWTH?
ICON is reaping the benefits of its aggressive growth strategy. According to the blockchain startup, after decentralization, its growth rate improved by 5 percent, but before decentralization, it only increased by 0.75 percent.
More than 80 validators are part of the startup’s network, which has gained traction. At the same time, 31 cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets have recognized ICX. The data provides an overview of the growth opportunities currently available in the market. It is necessary to understand some of the platform’s operations before we can leverage these opportunities.
Using the Incentives Scoring System (IISS), ICON forces users to earn points by staking. By doing so, the network is encouraged to develop new activities. It is believed that ICON has the best DPOS blockchain currently on the market. ICX, the platform’s native token, has been generating value due to the ICX reward system and ICON’s growth. In terms of yield rate, it offers a 9.7 percent yield rate, which makes it a good cryptocurrency for staking.
In addition to the organic growth provided by the developments, investors should consider investing in ICX. According to JH. Kim, the CEO of ICONLoop, future growth will be positive, especially as decentralization continues to spread across the globe. In order to take advantage of the anticipated growth for many years to come, investors need to take action now.
SUMMARY
ICONLOOP’s other blockchain projects, as well as its roadmap, illustrate the steps the blockchain startup is taking to lay the foundation for a future powered by blockchains. As a result of its world-class solutions, ICONLOOP is slowly becoming one of the most influential blockchain startups, and it will soon become a global phenomenon.
A major focus has been placed on the development of the infrastructure as a solution that can be adopted across multiple industries. Blockchain supremacy is slowly coming together as ICONLOOP carefully assembles the puzzle pieces.
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