ICON network: what’s the deal?
ICON is a specialized blockchain that operates as a specialized ecosystem focused on providing an environment where businesses can thrive. It’s presented as a sort of platform for the digital economy, very close in nature to how business is done outside of the crypto world. Blockchain tech, however, is still a vital part of the experience.
It’s an incredibly beneficial project, which allows businesses to establish a presence on the blockchain much more easily than they would otherwise. The ICON network consists of a number of nodes, and each new participant can create a new node. This node can maintain applications, which can be accessed from outside.
So, how good is ICON?
What is ICON?
ICON was created in 2017 by the company called ICON Foundation. Their goal was to create an environment where users could create custom nodes with unique rules and currencies. They would be autonomous, but would still share the network’s overarching principles and could communicate with one another.
They created just that. In fact, it was the epitome of the world's ‘ecosystem’. ICON is a tight environment, where nodes can benefit from cooperating with one another. Moreover, the participants of the system can all decide upon the creation of new blocks as part of the network’s unique Proof of Contribution consensus mechanism.
ICON is a decentralized network with a great degree of automation, which guarantees scalability and fast processing. Moreover, the network supports smart contracts — a flexible way of constructing nodes through a series of protocols executed automatically upon meeting a certain requirement.
This allows the ICON users to create sprawling, complex systems within the individual nodes, which may also have unique rules. As a result, the creation of applications on the ICON system is a versatile process. It’s generally not hard to create decentralized apps of all stripes on ICON.
ICX and PoC explained
While it’s possible for individual nodes to have independent inner currencies, the network has its own utility token, called ICX. It’s used on individual nodes as a governance token by default, but it also has an invaluable function in the ICON’s consensus mechanism, which is called Proof of Contribution.
Proof of Contribution is the consensus mechanism used on ICON. A consensus mechanism is a way for blockchains to determine which party is tasked with the creation of new blocks. When a new block is added, its creator receives a monetary reward. On Bitcoin, this process is achieved through computational power. The more power you contribute, the more likely you are to add the block.
The ICON’s procedure is more similar to the Proof of Stake, found on Ethereum and a variety of other blockchains. It’s a more efficient practice, which determines the new block’s author on the basis of staked assets. The more assets you stake, the likelier you are to be given a new block.
The Proof of Contribution works by voting for delegates. A delegate is chosen by contributing a certain amount of assets (ICX). The person with the most votes is selected as the new block’s author. In this way, people on the blockchain decide which node gets the right to a new block.
As such, the nodes (i.e. the applications) can receive tokens as a reward for their continued good service. If an application is good, it’s more likely to be endorsed with votes. If said application provides a great customer experience, it’s only fair that its developers get more money.
It’s a completely user-regulated process in an automated environment, which is great.
Security
Security on ICON is achieved via a rather standard blockchain technology. All transactions are written down in a ledger, and they can’t be revoked or modified after that. Individual nodes can incorporate additional security measures, such as the diversification of control or a system of validations.
However, the base security measures are enough to ensure the security and integrity of all applications on the network. As such, this thriving ecosystem is protected by a sturdy, even if pretty standard security mechanism. Additionally, it’s hard to hijack the creation of new blocks as it can sometimes be accomplished on Bitcoin.
The Proof of Stake and all related consensus mechanisms make sure that no one party can dictate the processes that happen on the blockchain. On Bitcoin, having enough computational power can effectively concentrate a large amount of influence in one person’s hands. This can’t happen to the same degree on ICON because owning a powerful GPU is insufficient to efficiently participate on the blockchain.
Advantages and Use Cases
ICON is in the middle ground between blockchains that allow you to create your own subchains and customize them to your liking and regular networks that demand that all nodes adhere to the same rules. ICON allows you to create nodes, like most blockchains, and also edit them to some degree.
There are many unique benefits to this system:
- DeFi and dApps. Thanks to the use of smart contracts on this network, as well as the ease with which you can create them, ICON is incredible for developing decentralized solutions.
- Scalability. The use of smart contracts and other measures allows the ICON network to be highly scalable.
- Integrated ecosystem. The solutions built on ICON nodes can interact with one another very easily, allowing various nodes to pull their resources together and cooperate.
- Interoperability. The system is additionally well-integrated with other blockchains, meaning that creating multichain projects has never been easier.
The result of all these advantages is that ICON can be used very efficiently to develop, integrate, and sell decentralized apps and other solutions. The process is supplemented by the increased scalability of this system, as well as the interoperability, which ensures that you can merge your projects on ICON with other solutions outside it.
