By Ryan J | USA

Last week proved to be tough on cryptocurrencies, with many tanking over 10%, however, there was one currency that has prevailed, ICON. In just the last 24 hours, ICON (ICX) has gained 154 percent gain, as compared to Bitcoin’s 5% and Litecoin’s 3%. In the past week, ICON’s value has grown by 230 percent – in the last month, 470 percent.

What Is ICX?

ICON is a Korean cryptocurrency started by a Silicon Valley financier. In its first sell-off, the coin garnered 42 million in funding through a Switzerland based company, with many seeing it’s unique attributes. One of these attributes is that it strives for “hyperconnectivity” that eliminates middlemen by creating a system of institutions, including securities firms, hospitals, universities, and banks, many of whom have already joined the cryptocurrency.

The South Korean fin-tech group who started it, Dayli Financial Group, owns over 100 different fin-tech brands, namely Yello Mobile, a startup valued at 4 billion dollars. This gives it an immense potential to go mainstream, as it is owned by a payment system and can connect every part of the Korean economy.

In essence, the new currency is attempting to link disjointed organizations via blockchain – opening ICON (ICX) to a whole plethora of possibilities. “Any mom-and-pop shop can potentially take advantage of something like this,” CFO Min Kim told Forbes. “If we connect every single company in Korea or even half of Korea on our network, that’s a massive success story.”

Whether or not this will prove to be the mainstream currency of Korea is anybody’s bet, however, there is compelling evidence to show the potential it has.