Icon, one protocol In an interconnected network that aggregates blockchain data into one layer, today announced the launch of a brand new blockchain project.

This new blockchain called ICE will bring a new application center to the ICON ecosystem. Upon completion, ICE will provide developers with better tools, EVM and eWASM compatibility, and immediate access to the growing ecosystem of ETH and Polkadot.

“ICE also represents a change in the direction of the ICON project by separating functions, product goals, and the purpose of each network. ICE will become the application center of the ecosystem, and we will redouble our efforts to make ICON the industry’s leading cross-chain and interoperability Protocol. Using ICON, users will be able to package assets, use the underlying security of each respective network to exchange assets locally, query data between networks, etc. Our goal is to continue research through the Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP) And the centralized integration of development and adoption to push through these boundaries. ICON is not a competitor, but a promoter. It is unknowable, and with the development of encryption technology, so is ICON.”
– Icon team

Overview

Partnership with Quasi-state, A development team focused on Substrate, specializing in building complex virtual machine trays, ICON Network will achieve EVM and eWASM compatibility through customized and novel Substrate-based side chains.

Others use the Substrate SDK to build applications or feature-specific parachains for Polkadot; ICON is the first team to use the Substrate SDK to extend the existing layer 1 blockchain feature set.

The main purpose of this new blockchain is to add EVM compatibility to the ICON ecosystem.

EVM compatibility enables developers to iterate and innovate faster using existing tools and code from the Ethereum ecosystem. Given that the application is easier to port, it can also increase ICON’s growth prospects. On ICE, ICON also adds support for eWASM; prepare ICON for ETH 2.0 compatibility.

In addition to Parastate, there are many other teams working on ICE, with the goal of expanding the developer base, leading integration and promoting activities.

Segmentation: ICON Ecosystem

The ICON ecosystem will now be divided into two networks with different goals:

First, ICE blockchain will focus on the application layer; because it is easier for existing blockchain developers to use EVM-compatible network tools and code bases. In addition, the application will be able to quickly port its services to take advantage of ICON’s dedicated user base.

second, The current network will continue to target ICON’s blockchain transmission protocol (BTP) And began to focus exclusively on interoperability and low-latency cross-chain applications. The core focus will be to increase the integration of other networks and drive transaction volume through BTP.

Impact on ICX token holders

ICE, the native token of the ICE blockchain, will be airdropped to all ICX holders at a ratio of 1:1. At the time of the snapshot, all ICX holders will receive ICE tokens equal to the amount of ICX they hold.

By using ICON’s BTP, ICX will become the governance token of the ICE network. ICX will be used to vote for validators, similar to how it is used for (representative) On the current network.

ICX holders will transfer ICX to the ICE network through BTP, pledge their ICX, vote for validators, and receive ICE tokens as rewards. ICX will become the governance token, and ICE will become the gas token of the ICE blockchain.

In addition, this provides an early use case for BTP. When users send ICE and ICX between the ICE network and the ICON network, the ICON network will earn fees; establish further economic links with ICX tokens. All fees earned from BTP transactions are sent to ICON’s contribution proposal system or burned.

ICE blockchain architecture

The ICE blockchain will start as an authoritative proof network, with trusted verifiers operating the chain.

After the network is stable, it will migrate to NPoS, which is a consensus mechanism commonly used in other Substrate SDK networks. NPoS is a variant of DPoS (the current consensus mechanism of the ICON network), in which token holders vote to elect validators to produce blocks and manage the network.

Smart contracts on the ICE network will be written in Solidity, Rust and C++. The cost of smart contract interaction, smart contract deployment and token transfer will be paid in ICE tokens. As part of leveraging its technology, 20% of online transaction fees will go to Parastate.

The initial supply of ICE tokens will be 25% higher than that of ICX, and the additional 25% will be used to incentivize future core contributors to the ICE blockchain. Similar to the ICON network, incentive voting and block production will lead to inflation.

After more research on the Substrate SDK, the ICON team will provide inflation rates and more detailed economics. However, ICON stated that its goal is to set the maximum inflation rate at 5% or 6% at the time of publication.

timeline

Currently, the plan is to make the ICE blockchain fully operational through BTP connections before the fourth quarter of 2021. The initial proof of the concept network will go live in the third quarter of 2021, allowing DApp developers to start building EVM and/or eWASM applications before they are fully completed.