Multiple cryptocurrency-related projects have surpassed the US$1 billion market cap in recent months. To many people, that comes as a big surprise, as this was still somewhat of an elite club not that long ago. Things have certainly changed quite a bit in this regard, but that doesn’t mean most people know anything about these projects. ICON is a great example of a seemingly successful business which most people couldn’t possibly describe right now.
WHAT IS ICON TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
It is commendable to see cryptocurrency and blockchain developers work toward global decentralized networks in the future. It is one thing to claim that one is building a decentralized network, but actually doing so is something else entirely. The ICON team claims they will be able to build one of the largest networks of this type, as they aim to “hyperconnect the world”. It will take a lot of work to come even close to realizing that vision in a reasonable time frame, however.
So far, it seems the ICON project has identified communities which have shown an interest in this particular project. These communities are comprised of reputable institutions – banks, insurance providers, hospitals, universities, and so on – that are interested in creating a global decentralized network. In the long run, these entities will help build decentralized applications for the network. So far, the team seems to be focusing on Blockchain ID as one of its main DApps, although there is plenty of room for other solutions as well.
WHAT DOES ICON DO AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
The use cases for the technology provided by ICON should not be underestimated either. Its Blockchain ID project, for example, is entirely based on smart contracts. It could potentially become a global way of authenticating and verifying one’s identity on the internet. Whether or not the world is ready for such “improvements” remains to be seen, though. Additionally, the team is working on a payment and exchange solution, which may be of some interest to banks and other financial service providers.
Projects such as ICON certainly offer a lot of promise, but the main question is how useful they will be. From a usability point of view, the team wants to bring the blockchain into people’s everyday lives. Building real-world applications will certainly help in this regard, but it is difficult to get people excited about things they may not even need or want in the first place. An interesting future lies ahead, especially if ICON can address any scalability concerns well in advance.
ICON boasts decentralized applications, interchain compatibility, real-time transactions, a decentralized exchange, and more. Moreover, there is support for artificial intelligence, which certainly makes ICON stand out from the pack. The project also uses a decentralized consensus model rather than the non-systematic solutions found in most other blockchains.
THE ROAD AHEAD FOR ICON
As one would expect, the ICON roadmap includes plenty of challenges and hurdles. First of all, its team aims to expand the DEX reserve pool to include most other major cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the team wants to forge more partnerships with blockchain networks. A second service to be launched in Q3 of this year is known as the “financial investment consortium”. It all sounds very appealing, but one also has to be realistic when it comes to undertakings like this one. Nothing comes easy in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Having good intentions and a clear vision is not sufficient to make it in this world.