ICON is a blockchain technology and network framework designed to allow independent blockchains to interact with each other. ICON is supported through a cryptocurrency token, called ICX. ICON is a South Korean-based company that developed a blockchain technology and accompanying cryptocurrency token called ICX. The company bills itself as an interconnected blockchain network, allowing participants in a decentralized system to “converge” at a central point. This is done by connecting a community to other communities through ICON Republic and Citizen Nodes. While blockchains are most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, enthusiasts point out other areas where the technology can be applied. Any exchange of information can technically be added to a blockchain, though adding some types may not be cost-effective. Transactions involving securities, currencies, business contracts, deeds and loans, intellectual property, and personal identification could be “tokenized. ICON’s blockchain is more like the Plasma or Ontology blockchain in that its purpose is to act as an intermediary between other blockchains and networks. This interconnectability makes the ICON project worth keeping an eye on over the next decade. ICON sports its very own decentralized exchange. This DEX sets currency reserves for each blockchain community so that ICON communities can exchange value in real time through the ICON Republic. In this way, DEX complements C-Rep portals by establishing another gateway for ICON Communities to connect to the ICON Republic.
Clams were initially distributed to 3,208,032 BTC, LTC and DOGE addresses based on the 12 May 2014 snapshot of these blockchains. Each of these address received 4.60545574 CLAMs. 63,381 addresses have been dug comprising 291,898.39 CLAMs. If all the distributed CLAMs were dug up, the total money supply would be 15,009,015.13. There is no Proof-of-Work stage for Clams and the network is now secured by Proof-of-Stake.