ICON is a blockchain that aims very high. The idea is to connect existing distributed ledger technologies with each other. Like the internet started to connect intranets all over the world, ICON wants to connect blockchains and other distributed ledgers (DLTs) with each other. This would enable us to move freely between blockchain solutions for health care, for entertainment purposes or governmental concerns. In ICON, these DLTs are called “Communities”, and its native currency is ICX.

To see the source code of our implementation, head over to our GitHub.

Technical Overview

The ICON network is based on Loopchain. Loopchain is a multi-channel blockchain that uses Loop Fault Tolerance (LFT). LFT is an improved PBFT. For both the public ICON network as well as private blockchain implementations for large business clients Loopchain is used. The idea behind private networks is to connect them with each other via the public ICON network later on.

ICON uses Delegated Proof of Contribution (DPoC), a modified version of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), where the reputation of a node is not only defined by the coins at stake but by the overall contribution to the network (incl. the coins at stake). ICONists (holders of ICX) can delegate their I-Score to representatives which then vote for different rules and policies on the ICON network. Such representatives can be P-Reps or C-Reps. A P-Rep is a governance node that doesn’t belong to any community, so it votes in favour of the overall ICON network. A C-Rep is a governance node that votes in favour of its community and the overall ICON network.

As Loopchain is a multi-channel blockchain, there are also different channels. The representation channel is a consensus system where P-Reps and C-Reps decide on different rules. In the Notary Channel, transactions are forwarded between communities. The Public channel is the channel where everyone can participate, e.g. sending ICX or using DApps.