What is ICON (ICX)? A Beginner’s 101 Guide
- ICON is the name of a South Korean born blockchain network that uses the native cryptocurrency ICX
- ICON (ICX) has been in development for 2 years and has been brought to market by Korean Coinone cryptocurrency exchange owners, Dayli Financial Group
- ICX is striving to create a blockchain ecosystem. Namely, one upon which non-affiliated businesses, cryptocurrencies, and other ventures can transact using ICON tokens
- Since October 2017, ICON has risen about 9x’s in value from $0.45 to $4.19
- $1 billion cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital revealed recently that ICON (ICX) as its largest holdings
Launched as an ICO in July 2017, ICON (ICX) migrated onto its own mainnet on January 24th. Since then, ICON has gone on to peak at $7.30. Investor interest in the new South Korean utility token has been overwhelmingly positive and many people have been calling ICON the sleeping giant ready to rise.
The only question is, what is ICX & ICON exactly?
ICON ICX Review & the Creation of a True Blockchain Ecosystem
Over the past 12-months, investor interest in utility tokens has seen a variety of new cryptocurrency tokens come to market. Focused predominantly on bringing enterprise ready blockchain technology to market, such tokens include the likes of healthcare coins, insurance coins, and even Netflix-like on-demand streaming media tokens.
Sadly, almost all contemporary utility tokens share one flaw.
This being that while tokens can be traded easily on their own blockchains, exchanging coins for other cryptocurrencies and fiat cash, isn’t as easy.
The good news, though, is that Korean token ICON (ICX) might be about to change all this.
- ICON has created a blockchain environment upon which businesses can build and manage their own full-scale cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications.
- Referred to as a ‘Loopchain Platform,’ the ICX blockchain allows different communities such as businesses, banks, and other financial services providers, to interact and exchange funds instantly.
- Unlike with Ethereum, ICON communities create their very own blockchains, transaction protocols, and governance systems, by using their own community network nodes.
- ICON uses its own DEX cryptocurrency exchange. ICON communities can, therefore, transact among themselves in real-time, regardless of what rules govern the specific tokens each community uses.
ICON (ICX) vs. Ethereum
At face value, ICON can sound very similar to blockchains and coins like Ethereum. However, with coins like Ethereum, users cannot create enterprise-ready decentralized applications – at least not without great difficulty. Moreover, this is precisely why several projects like Eristica and Kik messenger have recently abandoned Ethereum in favor of alternative platforms.
ICON Use Cases and Real World Applications
Unlike many ICO crypto scams that have come out over the past few months, the ICON blockchain is actually currently being used and applied in real life.
Some examples of how the ICON loopchain technology is currently being applied includes:
- Hospitals – Leading South Korean health care institutions and hospitals have developed the Precision Healthcare Information System in order to use the the loopchain to secure data and allow inter-hospital data exchange.
- Universities – Major South Korean universities have used the ICON network to create the “U-coin” which will allow students to use cryptocurrency at smart vending machines and day-to-day payments at school.
- Banks – Large banks are developing a pre-paid digital system and digital currency management system using ICON’s network.
- Insurance – A consortium of top-tier insurance companies have already launched an automated insurance claiming service using loopchain making it much easier for customers to claim insurance.
- Securities – The Korean Financial Investment Blockchain Consortium was launched in 2016 by 26 Korean security firms. The enterprise blockchain service was launched in 2017 and application and clearing of settlements will begin in 2018.
Is Now a Good Time to Invest in ICX Tokens?
Because of the ETH like utility function of ICX tokens, many investors believe that ICX will follow a similar growth trajectory to that of Ethereum itself. What is more, recent tenfold price increases seem to suggest that this is a strong possibility.
The largest challengers to ICON are two direct competitors coming to market in the form of EOS and Cardano, though it seems the ICON network may have a head-start with real-world applications.
For the time being, the ICON network is primarily being applied in South Korea. One can assume that they hope to expand internationally in the future.
Buying ICX and Storing it Safely
At present, ICON can be bought easily at leading exchanges like Binance.
You can store your ICX on an exchange, but it is usually recommended that you keep your cryptocurrency in a wallet.
Storing ICX safely can then be achieved using the new ICONEX wallet available from the IOS app store, Google Play, and as a Chrome extension. You can find the correct version for you on the ICON website.
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Do you have any experience with buying ICX or any knowledge or updates about the ICON network? Share with the community in the comments section below.
Dave Starkax built his first computer when he was 8 years old and has never looked back. Dave built trading platforms for the exchange of video game digital goods beginning in 2001. When he read the bitcoin whitepaper in 2011, he recognized it as a solution to the biggest problem his industry had been facing for over a decade. He joined Do Cryptocurrency upon meeting the founder and learning about his inspiring mission for the crypto community.
Yeah, ICON is super exciting. They actually have an existing product and are setting up some really cool things, like the U-coin. They also have an official wallet available.