The 2016 economic report “On the Value of Virtual Currencies” commissioned by the Bank of Canada, found three contributing components dictating a cryptocurrency’s exchange rate: The actual use of virtual currency to execute real payments. The decision of forward-looking investors to buy virtual currency (thereby effectively regulating its supply). The elements that jointly drive future consumer adoption and merchant acceptance of virtual currency. XAC Attention Addresses Attention Addresses are linked to AMARK consumer data and have specific rules enforced by the XAC protocol. There are two key functions of attention addresses: XAC-LOCK XAC-Lock is a feature that encourages continued consumer engagement with AMARK. The XAC sent to Attention Addresses is initially locked and becomes available after a maturation period. The XAC attention awards paid to consumers continually matures into availability as new XAC is earned from ongoing attention marketing. This process encourages engagement with AMARK as attention wallets will rarely have a zero XAC balance, giving consumers a consistent flow of value to spend within the ecosystem. XAC-BURN XAC-Burn is enforced at the protocol level. All transfers to Attention Addresses require 5% of the XAC transferred to be burned. The XAC -Burn feature is designed to align interests between merchants and consumers in the AMARK ecosystem. Anytime merchants use the AMARK platform for marketing, they are supporting the value of the XAC currency as protocol rules enforces a 5% burn. As such, merchants are effectively scaling the supply of XAC to match the demand from the ecosystem. This supply-side scaling mechanism will offset new coins introduced through block rewards and pressure the price of XAC to an equilibrium reflective of demand from the ecosystem.
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.