Greetings ICONists,

As we approach the end of May on this beautiful, clear afternoon, the ICON Team would like to share the most recent updates we have made in the month of May.

P-Rep TestNet Operation

In May, P-Rep candidates organized their respective node environments as scheduled, and successfully completed the first operation of the ICON TestNet. The second TestNet operation will run from June to July. As P-Rep candidates practice operating their own nodes, preparations for stably operating the decentralized ICON network are being made. The decentralized network is expected to flourish under the operation of the P-Reps that will be elected in the 3Q.

Interchain

The Interchain Development Team is in the process of designing the BTP protocol for interconnecting Ethereum chains with public chains. The main components for interconnecting these two heterogeneous chains will be the Relayer, the ICON Relay Contract, and the ETH Relay Contract.

The Relayer manages and delivers Proof Data while monitoring the ICON and Ethereum networks.

The ICON Relay Contract and ETH Relay Contract perform the On-chain Proof and handle the issuance/refund requests for each of the chain tokens.

This research and development will create an environment in which DApps that are operated on other blockchains can be used through the ICX.

DEX

ICON DEX implementation is complete and its sources, concept descriptions, and test documents have been published on the ICON GitHub.

>>> Check out the ICON DEX page

As the ICON DEX was developed as open source with the Apache 2.0 License, anyone can build and operate decentralized exchanges such as Bancor, and KyberSwap, based on IRC tokens by using open DEX sources. If you wish to operate DEX services, please contact the ICON Team and we will be more than glad to assist you in this matter.

Fee 2.0

The Fee 2.0 feature has almost passed the QA phase and will be published on the ICON Mainnet in mid-June. The fact that all DApp users were required to pay cryptocurrency fees starting from their initial uses of the services has been a major hurdle to overcome within the blockchain industry as a whole. With Fee 2.0’s RPC API, ICON DApp users will be able to use ICON services without ICX fees starting in mid-June. DApp providers can also pay fees using Virtual Step, which is generated through ICX staking, allowing providers to save DApp operating costs.

IISS — ICON Incentive Scoring System

The IISS feature is expected to open in August, a month before the P-Rep elections take place. In this system, ICX holders receive ICX incentives to contribute to the ICON Network by staking ICX and delegating to healthy and viable P-rep candidates. The IISS Development Team and The Governance Team are closely reviewing the ICX incentive policies, and are working hard to develop the P-Rep election system and IISS system, while at the same time, ensuring the growth of ICON Network’s value by maintaining its stable operation.

ICON Developer Documentation

We are continually enhancing and improving the developer documentation to make it easier for ICON developers to develop and operate the ICON Smart Contract and ICON services. The Documentation 0.9 Beta Version on the ICON Developers Portal is currently in the final stages and will be officially released after a final review.

ICON DPASS (DID)

‘ICON DPASS,’ a decentralized identity authentication service, will be launched in June. Users will be able to keep their personal information in the DPASS app and access multiple existing services and apps without repeating authentication procedures (KYC). DPASS will be linked with various online/offline services in the future, and we will strive to make this the easiest and the most convenient authentication service that exists.

Blockchain based Certification Service — broof

We have just launched ‘broof (https://broof.io)’, a service that allows various certificates to be issued based on the ICON blockchain in. This service takes the same form as the Seoul Blockchain Governance Team’s mobile letter of appointment that is created using ICON’s public blockchain and is provided as an open service. By issuing certificates on a blockchain, permanent archiving is possible without issuing separate paper documents. It also allows for certificates to be easily issued, viewed, and verified anywhere via mobile platforms.

ICON TX Challenge

The ‘ICON TX Challenge’, a large scale blockchain development contest, will start in June. We will be rewarding ICX to teams that generate meaningful transactions using the ICON Smart Contract. Teams confirmed to participate in the contest will be given 200 ICX such as a participating prize. A separate reward of 0.01 ICX per 1 TX that occur within the contest period will be given out, with a daily limit of 200 ICX. The rewards will continue to be distributed until the total award of 600,000 ICX is completely exhausted. Please join us in this exciting challenge!

>>> Check out the ICON TX Challenge Participation Guide

The ICON Development Team will be working on the planned milestones for June, while at the same time, taking on new business opportunities with both domestic and global companies. We hope to be back soon with some more exciting announcements!

-ICON Development Team