ICON (ICX) Project: What’s in It for Me?
Icon Pilipinas Background
Icon Pilipinas is passionate about educating the masses about the benefits of using the ICON network and underlying blockchain technology, which is why we decided to become a Public Representative (P-REP) of the ICON Project.
Our journey as a P-REP candidate #105 for ICON began in late February.
Our Educational Content
Since joining the fray (which features ICONists from all over the world contributing to grow ICON!), we’ve released the following educational videos aimed at helping our fellow Pinoys in the Philippines better relate to + understand what ICON is all about.
In addition, we’ve completed the following articles, which we hope will serve as an easy-to-read (but also very detailed) introduction series for newbies who are interested in learning more familiar about blockchain technology.
- Blockchain Basics: The Blockchain Trilemma (Part 4)
- Blockchain Basics: Consensus Algorithm (Part 3)
- Blockchain Basics: Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology (Part 2)
- Blockchain Basics: Different Types of Networks (Part 1)
Ultimately, our goal with these educational materials is to use them to help out more and more people.
In effect, Icon Pilipinas is striving to slowly, day-by-day, eventually build one of the world’s thriving ICON sub-community hubs here in 🇵🇭
Our Marketing Content
To complement our videos + articles, we’ve also been aggressive in our efforts to grow our FB page, bringing in new followers from all over the Philippines.
Here at Icon Pilipinas, we are obsessed with tech, and we very much want to connect with other like-minded individuals.
Yes, it’s true that there are some Pinoy techies out there, but we want to recruit many, many, many more as we truly believe that the path to a better future for all of our countrymen will be paved through exciting new tech innovations, like ICON.
The current way of thinking and tech education in the Philippines is so outdated 😩 and must be replaced with something more practical, far-reaching, and of course way more exciting. 😎
Enter ICON Project.
Investing in ICON Project
Of course, naturally, when human beings start to get really immersed into something, we want to figure out ways in which we can contribute and invest more into it.
In terms of “investing”, this can mean anything, really.
Promoting ICON
For example, as we mentioned in the previous section, Icon Pilipinas decided to become a P-REP, and ever since then, we’ve been “investing” our time + energy on education, marketing, building a sub-community of ICONists here in the Philippines, and overall, really just promoting ICON Project to the best of our abilities.
Although we aren’t techies, we still feel like we can contribute to the ICON Project, and ultimately, make a huge difference.
Perhaps, marketing + promotion is right up your alley as well?
Developing for ICON
In contrast, for someone else, “investing” in ICON might be them figuring out a way to use their technical skills to design a new + most useful program (e.g., build a DApp) on the ICON network that everyone can benefit from.
For example, main P-REP team Rhizome came up with a sleek app (iOS + Android) that notifies ICONists everyday when staking rewards (which will be discussed in a later section of this article) become available.
Now, because the ICON network is open source, fully decentralized, and accessible to all people, it’s definitely possible for ANY Pinoys to start programming on ICON today.
For interested, tech-savvy Pinoys, you can either write software code yourself, or put together a talented team to help you tackle more ambitious projects.
It’s entirely up to you.
Then, whenever you’re ready, you can either form your own P-REP team (like what we did here at Icon Pilipinas!), or apply for a grant application directly via the ICON Community forum so that you can get funding for your project(s)!
The following is just an example of what a recent successful grant application submitted to ICON Foundation from main P-REP team block42 (based in Austria) looks like:
If you click the above image link, you can see more details about block42’s proposed Liquid ICX (LICX) project, which the P-REP team currently anticipates needing 3 months to create a MVP (Minimal Viable Product).
Shown below is an early concept of what the LICX web application might look like:
Now, as shown below, you can see that this particular grant application from block42 was approved by ICON Foundation:
The initial grant application requested $23,400 to fund development for the LICX project.
Isn’t that really amazing?!?
If you’ve got an awesome idea (and the programming know how to execute it), there are no longer any barriers, glass ceilings, red tape, etc. that you need to overcome before you can get a high quality project off the ground.
Sure, the grant application (which keep in mind, marketing folks can apply for as well, it’s not limited to just programmers) may require you to make some concessions in your original proposal and have to work collaboratively with ICON Foundation and/or other ICONists to find the perfect middle ground (hey, that’s just business and life in general!), but certain inhibitors like geographic discrimination will soon become a thing of the past; everyone now has the opportunity to shine bright!
Welcome to the *NEW AGE* of decentralized networks, brought to you by projects like ICON.
- No muss
- No fuss
- Just #BUIDL
Please keep in mind, the grant application example from above was used solely for illustration purposes only. Furthermore, it’s worth pointing out that the current method of submitting grant applications directly to ICON Foundation is based on ICON Incentives Scoring System (IISS) 2.0.
In the future, starting with IISS 3.0 (which was most recently approved and will be implemented later this year), anyone interested in applying for a grant can submit one directly to the Contribution Proposal Fund (CPF), which will be governed by the top 22 main P-REP teams on the ICON network.
More details below:
The proposal includes the creation of a smart-contract based funding mechanism that will reward direct contributions from ICON community members. Termed the “Contribution Proposal Fund (CPF),” the fund aims to have an initial cap of 1,000,000 ICX tokens. Once the cap is reached, any additional ICX received will be burned.
It’s worth highlighting that the CPF will be funded by taking 10% of validator rewards, and rewards in excess of 10% from top validators. The fund will also lessen the need for trust that must be vested into individual validators.
The fund will be operated by the votes of the 100 plus validators on the ICON network to provide financial assistance to development projects with the potential for creating a significant positive impact.
In addition, the fund will also ensure better distribution of inflation within the ICON community via a decentralized approach. The upper cap on the CPF will help lower inflation if funds are bot being spent on projects.
The fund will be easily accessible by all as anyone will be able to apply for funding from the CPF. Should the proposal for the CPF be approved, the ICON community will later provide further details about the fund in a revised Contribution Proposal System.
Pinoys, are you excited and ready to start building DApps for ICON Project?
ICX Token
In addition to having the opportunity to become an active contributor, it’s also possible for anyone interested in the ICON Project to “invest” via the more traditional way of buying + holding an asset (e.g, stocks, bonds).
The fuel that powers the ICON network is the ICX token, which is a cryptocurrency (i.e., digital asset) that actively trades on many leading crypto exchanges.
Please note: Cryptocurrencies, such as ICX tokens, are EXTREMELY volatile! These assets are also very speculative in nature, and no one should ever buy any ICX tokens without first conducting their own thorough research + due diligence into ICON Project. Never put any more capital at risk than you can comfortably afford to lose all of!
Also, please consult with a professional financial advisor if you have any questions.
At Icon Pilipinas, we do NOT offer any investment/speculating advice EVER!
The above disclaimer cannot be emphasized on enough, so please make sure to read it again.
Current ICX Price and Valuation
With that being said, the current value of 1 ICX token is $0.2535 USD.
In pesos, the price of 1 ICX token is currently 12.85 PHP.
In addition, the current market capitalization of all ICX tokens is ~$136 million USD. There are now ~834 million ICX tokens in total supply, with ~537 million ICX tokens in circulation.
As the following year-to-date chart of the ICX token shows, the price is very prone to swinging wildly. Worth noting is that at the start of 2020, 1 ICX token was valued at ~$0.11 USD, and by early February, the price broke out to a high of ~$0.60 USD.
Certainly, ICX (like most other cryptocurrencies) is volatile enough that skilled traders will be able to capture the strong gyrations (ups and downs) and make solid profits along the way.
Active Trading vs. HODL
However, we know that active trading (e.g., relying on charts and technical analysis to make decisions on when to buy/sell) isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea.
And it doesn’t have to be.
At Icon Pilipinas, for example, we don’t actively trade ICX at all, since we’ve always been far more interested in the “long” game for the ICON Project.
Traditionally speaking, at least as it pertains to stocks, you might be familiar with the investment strategy of buy and hold.
In the crypto space, there’s a term that’s caught on in recent years which in essence is similar to the same idea of buy and hold, and that’s what we call HODL (Hold On for Dear Life).
HODL is for the true believers, typically people who have a timeframe for buying/selling that spans more than just a few days/weeks/months.
For instance, think about the early adopters of Bitcoin (BTC) who were buying in 2013 (say at ~$100 per BTC), and refuse to sell today (at ~$7,500 per BTC) because they feel adamant that the best days are still to come. Similarly, for ICONists and anyone holding ICX tokens who feel most strongly that this is just the start of the ball game (and mainstream adoption of ICON will take off like a rocket in the near future), an argument can also be made for implementing the HODL strategy here.
With that said one, key feature (sweetener) that sets ICX apart from many other cryptocurrencies out there, such as BTC, is that by simply owning + holding ICX tokens (i.e., HODL), a speculator can regularly earn staking rewards.
Staking Rewards
ICON network operates on a governance system called Delegated Proof of Contribution (DPoC), which is designed to incentivize and reward active participants (i.e., ICX token holders).
You can think of staking like setting up a time deposit at a local bank; you set your funds (ICX tokens) aside and lock them up for a fixed duration of time (currently the time required to un-stake ICX tokens is ~10 days), and in exchange for NOT being able to use your funds (ICX tokens), you earn interest (I-Score).
What is I-Score, specifically?
IISS calculates and distributes I-Score, a variable used to quantify an ICONist’s contribution to the ecosystem. The I-Score of each contributing ICONist is calculated after every block and accumulated every 43,120 blocks.
However, the distribution of I-Score to contributors is made at the end of the next 43,120 blocks.
ICX will be minted every block and sent to the Public Treasury contract, where ICONists can claim their ICX in exchange for their accumulated I-Score.
In other words, by first staking ICX tokens (any amount is ok), followed up with voting for active P-REP teams (such as Icon Pilipinas 😉), an ICX speculator will earn interest in the form of I-Score, which can be claimed (~everyday) to acquire newly minted ICX tokens.
But please remember, you must STAKE + VOTE in order to earn I-Score (staking rewards); STAKING ONLY will earn you NOTHING!
Currently, the annual reward rate for STAKING + VOTING is 16.38%.
Here are more details from main P-REP team Ubik Capital regarding how the reward rate can vary:
Voters will receive annual rewards of 6% to 36%, depending on the total amount of ICX that is staked in the network.
The less icon staked to the network, the greater the rate of reward, and vice versa.
Staking rewards are paid in I-Score, which can be immediately converted from the Public Treasury to ICX.
Let’s use an example, and assume an ICONist has a stash of 10,000 ICX tokens (currently valued at ~$2,535 USD) that they elect to STAKE + VOTE.
We can plug in the amount of ICX (in this case, 10,000 tokens) using the very nifty reward calculator web app, created by P-REP team block42.
The following would be the staking rewards (i.e., newly minted ICX tokens) that an ICONist would receive for their decision to HODL.
$34.77 USD/month (~1,763 PHP/month), maybe that’s enough for some people to pay their electric bill?
Granted, it’s worth pointing again that cryptocurrencies like ICX are EXTREMELY volatile, so please take the above charts and calculations with a grain of salt; these numbers are dynamic and subject to change, depending on the ebbs and flows of the market.
But you get the general idea.
In an era where long-term time deposits (e.g., 6 months) at most banks can’t even offer interest rates greater than 1%, staking rewards of 16.38% via ICX tokens can easily be seen as high yield, in comparison.
The caveat of course being that time deposits are a proven SAFE investment, whereas in contrast, staking rewards via ICX must be considered a VERY RISKY speculation!
Nobody can predict the future direction of prices, but assuming that the broader crypto market holds relatively constant over the next few years, an ICONist might expect the following type of compound interest to kick in for continually RE-STAKING + RE-VOTING their ICX rewards (you can RE-STAKE + RE-VOTE ~everyday, if you’d like to).
For example, as shown in the chart above, suppose an ICONist only decided to STAKE + VOTE their initial 10,000 ICX tokens just once; they would earn ~1,639 new ICX tokens after 1 year. In comparison, let’s say the same ICONist decided to RE-STAKE + RE-VOTE their ICX rewards once a week, over the same 1 year time period; they would earn ~1,777 ICX, instead.
That’s quite a difference, which can be attributed to the power of compounding.
And keep in mind, staking rewards + compounding works without having to take any account as to what the price of the underlying ICX token is.
Ideally in a perfect world, the price of the ICX token will become increasingly more valuable over time, while in conjunction, ICONists who are HODLing their ICX tokens will keep on earning staking rewards too!
Conclusion
There are many ways for someone who is interested in the ICON Project to contribute and help grow the ecosystem.
For example, at Icon Pilipinas, we decided to become a P-REP and focus our main efforts on education, marketing, and building a sub-community here in the Philippines.
In contrast, those individuals who are more tech-savvy than ourselves are welcome to at any time start developing code and writing new programs on the ICON network. Furthermore, talented programmers may want to form their own P-REP team, and/or apply for funding of their projects via grant application on the ICON community forum (and in the future, through the CPF).
And lastly, for speculators out there who truly believe in the ICON Project and its long-term trajectory, there is the option to not only buy ICX tokens, but ability to earn staking rewards via STAKING + VOTING one’s holdings. With a current annual reward rate of 16.38%, it’s arguable that ICX + HODL are a wonderful match at this time.
Thanks for reading. Salamat po.
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Disclaimer: Cryptocurrencies are EXTREMELY volatile! These assets are also very speculative in nature, and no one should ever buy any without first conducting their own thorough research + due diligence. Never put any more capital at risk than you can comfortably afford to lose all of!
As ALWAYS, proceed most carefully, and if you have any questions, please consult a professional financial advisor.