ICON recently revealed its updated roadmap development following 2019’s first quarter. Here is a brief summary of what the ICON team has been working on:
P-Rep TestNet
Ahead of the P-Rep elections in the third quarter, ICON is allowing P-Rep candidates to prepare network operations, preemptively install ICON nodes and operate blockchain testnets.
- Check out this recent notice with updated details on the TestNet
- Here’s the P-Rep TestNet Application Form
Interchain
The Interchain Development Team is in the process of commercialization after the design and POC verification of the BTP protocol for interconnecting private chains with public chains. Through the Merkle Proof and Validator verification in heterogeneous chains, the risks of Oracle’s falsification and fakes have been solved, enabling enterprise chains to work with ICON’s public blockchain. The ICON team will also provide an environment in which tokens and data published on the internal private chains of companies can also be distributed onto ICON’s public blockchain.
DEX
Implementation of DEX is complete and ready to be published on the available on GitHub. DEX is ICON’s own decentralized exchange, which allows for more liquidity of its IRC2 coins. The ICON team can assist anyone running the DEX service through the sources and guidelines published on their GitHub.
Fee 2.0
The Fee 2.0 feature is almost complete and currently in the QA phase. This feature allows DApp providers and service users to avoid paying fees or to make payments with Virtual Step*, generated through staking instead of the actual ICX. The feature’s launch is slated for May or June, depending on whether or not a stabilization period is required.
(*Virtual step is a system to mitigate the burden of transaction fees. SCORE operators can receive and utilize Virtual Step by agreeing to deposit a certain amount of ICX for a given period of time.)
Stable Token
A project to issue fiat money as IRC2 (ICON mainnet-based tokens) is currently underway with a strategic partner. The ‘stable token’ will be ‘pegged’ to the value of fiat money and used as a ‘price-stable token’ like Tether (USDT). The Stable Token Issuance Service is expected to open within the first half of the year, allowing users to trade stable tokens on exchanges that we are currently negotiating with.
ICON DPASS (DID)
A new decentralized identity service known as ICON DPASS will be released in May. Users will be able to keep their personal information in the DPASS app (iOS and Android) and access multiple existing services and apps without repeating authentication procedures (KYC).
Blockchain based Certification
In June, the ICON team is planning on providing a service that issues various certificates based on the ICON blockchain. Provided as an open service, it will work similarly to the Seoul Blockchain Governance Team’s mobile letter of appointment that is created using ICON’s public blockchain. By issuing certificates on blockchain, permanent archiving is possible without issuing paper documents and allows for certificates to be easily issued, viewed, and verified anywhere via mobile.
The ICON dev team is working hard to ensure they are reaching planned milestones for May. For additional details, check out ICON’s updated roadmap here.
