The Blockchain of Blockchains: ICON as an Aggregator Chain

We are excited to announce the creation of the Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP) Working Group, a team of ICON core members along with a growing set of 3rd party developer groups. The BTP Working Group’s sole purpose is to fulfill ICON’s ultimate vision of becoming a blockchain of blockchains — an elegant web of interconnected networks aggregating all blockchain data into one layer. ICON is not just a blockchain, but an Aggregator Chain.

Over the coming months, we will be sharing the progress and growth of the BTP Working Group. We currently have three third-party developer groups (Edgeware, ICON DAO, and Web3 Labs) learning the BTP architecture and working on implementations. Their work will be easily replicable across similar blockchain ecosystems making aggressive BTP expansion a realistic opportunity. By the end of 2021, it is our goal to grow the BTP Ecosystem larger than any other interoperability solution currently available on the market; not only in the number of blockchain integrations but also in the number of tangible use cases.

To dive a layer deeper into the purpose of the working group, it will be going for both breadth and depth. Breadth is connecting to as many blockchain protocols as possible, while depth is developing multiple use cases within each ecosystem. Our initial use cases include native coin transfer between networks (e.g. ICX) and standard token transfer (e.g. IRC2 tokens). More advanced use cases entail fully decentralized cross-chain applications, such as a cross-chain yield aggregators, cross-chain exchanges, cross-chain money markets, and cross-chain NFT marketplaces, which will be the ultimate goal to achieve our vision of ICON as an aggregator chain. We imagine a future where developers can build complex applications that tap into different blockchain infrastructures, opening the door to countless opportunities across several blockchain ecosystems all powered by ICON and BTP.

So what does being an aggregator chain mean for ICX holders? To summarize the detailed economics found in a separate post, ICX holders will be able to purchase various tokens at a discount through an auction process. The tokens available for purchase come from the transaction fees charged on the BTP network, therefore value for ICX holders is directly correlated to the growth and utilization of BTP. The ICX used to purchase these discounted tokens will be sent to the CPS or burned. With more transactions through the BTP Ecosystem, there will be more discounted tokens available for purchase, which burns more ICX.

Our goal is to launch ICON 2.0 with at least two blockchain ecosystems connected to ICON, with testnet implementations going live just before Summer. From there, it will be far easier to integrate more and more networks as the development standards are refined and replicable.

ICON’s vision is powerful and our path forward is clear. We look forward to taking on the challenges that lie ahead with the help of the growing BTP Working Group, our passionate community, and our dedicated core team.

Thank you,
The ICON Team

About ICON DAOICON DAO is an ICON Network P-Rep team composed of developers and blockchain specialists. As ecosystem partners and builders on ICON, ICON DAO has developed several notable projects for the network. These projects include community platform icondao.moim.co, educational initiatives such as the introduction of ‘Blockchain programming on ICON Network’ program at Vietnam National University and most recently, a collaboration effort with a team of P-Reps for the development of BalancedDAO. With these projects under ICON DAO’s belt and a firm commitment to build even more, ICON DAO aims to be a leading development team for ICON’s expanding decentralized network.

About Web3LabsWeb3 Labs is a blockchain technology company. They work with leading blockchain protocols such as ICON to develop their ecosystems; and large organisations to deliver applications that improve trust and authenticity of data and assets. Their clients include Microsoft, J.P. Morgan, ConsenSys and R3. They are the creators of the widely used blockchain developer library Web3j and the Epirus Blockchain Explorer. Web3 Labs believes in creating business value and greater efficiency through decentralisation.

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About EdgewareEdgeware is a fairly-launched, actively-governed smart contract ecosystem. It has integrated advanced features like proof-of-stake validation, self-upgrading WebAssembly and EVM smart contracts, ChainBridge by ChainSafe, an interface for on-chain identity and governance. Edgeware is also the first smart contract chain from the Polkadot ecosystem.

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