How and Where to Buy ICON (ICX) – Detailed Guide
- What is ICX?
- Step 1: Register on Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange
- Step 2: Buy BTC with fiat money
- Step 3: Transfer BTC to an Altcoin Exchange
- Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
- Step 5: Trade ICX
- Last Step: Store ICX securely in hardware wallets
- Other useful tools for trading ICX
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Latest News for ICX
- ICX Price Prediction and Price Movement
What is ICX?
What Is ICON Network (ICX)?
ICON Network is a layer-one blockchain from South Korea. Its declared vision is to build an interoperable blockchain network bridging autonomous online communities and real-world enterprises. ICON Network focuses on delivering real-world utility by advancing hyperconnectivity through the promotion of frictionless value exchanges.
By verifying transactions on its decentralized ledger, ICON can minimize the number of intermediaries and eradicate boundaries to cross-border interactions. In particular, the company focuses on the use cases of decentralized identity, digital certificate issuance, blockchain payments, decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens and additional use cases: e-government, elections, decentralized oracles and e-health.
Thanks to its focus on enterprise adoption, ICON was able to secure several partnerships with South Korean companies and the country’s private sector. For instance, ICONLOOP, a leading blockchain technology company in South Korea and the primary contributor to the ICON Project, leads Korea’s largest decentralized identity consortium. Also, in August 2020, the country’s Jeju island selected the company for private and secure COVID-19 contact tracing. Other partners of the Icon Network include Shinhan Bank, South Korea’s second-largest commercial bank, and Danal Fintech, the company behind Paycoin, a global payments and remittance app.
Who Are the Founders of ICON Network?
ICON Network was founded by Min Kim, the former chief strategy officer of DAYLI Financial Group, Korea’s largest fintech holding company, and the chief operating officer at Tapas Media, a U.S. digital content distribution platform. He is also an alumnus of Haas School of Business at the University of California in Berkeley. Min Kim incubated ICONLOOP, a South Korean software company behind the development of ICON Network’s loopchain. The company develops and maintains the blockchain with oversight from the ICON foundation and is as such permissionless, but not completely open-source.
What Makes ICON Network Unique?
ICON Network focuses on several different use cases to advance its declared goal of hyperconnectivity in South Korea. One is decentralized identity through Zzeung, an identity authentication and management solution. The company obtained an exclusive license from the Financial Services Commission in South Korea to provide decentralized identity services to enterprise customers in South Korea. Companies can securely store their users’ authentication information and provide facial recognition services for opening financial accounts. Data is secured through the ICON Network. Another example of decentralized identity services is Zzeung’s use for COVID-19 contact tracing.
ICON also provides digital certificate issuance, storage and verification services to South Korean universities issuing diplomas and qualification certificates. Moreover, Korea’s largest online job search platform certifies applicants’ academic and professional credentials through a digital certificate management solution secured by ICON.
Another use case is a visitor check-in and management service utilizing the ICON Network to issue unique visitor passes for cafes, restaurants, hospitals, and other venues that required tracking their visitors during the COVID pandemic.
ICON also has a thriving DeFi and NFT ecosystem connected to the Ethereum network through Orbit Bridge, allowing Ethereum based tokens to be transferred to ICON. In contrast to most DeFi products, those on ICON are heavily focused on the user experience. Examples include Balanced Network, a DeFi collaboration created to introduce stablecoins to the ICON Network, and Open Money Market, a lending and borrowing platform.
Related Pages:
Check out Solana (SOL) — a high-speed blockchain.
Check out Polkadot (DOT) — another blockchain for the multichain future.
Read our deep dive into Avalanche, another layer-one blockchain.
Get the latest crypto news and latest trading insights with the CoinMarketCap blog.
How Many ICON Network (ICX) Coins Are There in Circulation?
The current supply of ICX is 800 million tokens, with no hard cap on the total supply. The token distribution is as follows:
- 400 million ICX sold at the ICO in September 2017 for a price of $0.11
- 16 % community reserve
- 10% to the team, advisors, and early contributors
- 10% to the community group and strategic partners
- 14% to the ICON foundation
ICX is used for staking, paying smart contracts and transactions fees, and rewarding users for network participation. Staking rewards are between 6% and 36% per year, depending on the total amount staked. The unstaking period is relative to the amount of ICX staked, the fewer ICX from the total supply are staked, the longer the unstaking period, which can range between 20 days and five days.
How Is the ICON Network Secured?
ICON is secured by a Byzantine fault tolerance delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. Validators in the ICON ecosystem are called Public Representatives (P-Reps) and secure the ICON Network by staking its native token ICX. 100 of these P-Reps, 22 Main P-Reps, and 78 Sub P-Reps are responsible for the network’s governance and block production.
Token holders, called ICONists, can delegate their ICX to these P-Reps to secure the network. Each P-Rep is backed by the stake of their ICONists. In addition, new candidates can become one of the top 100 P-Reps contributing to validating the network. P-Reps are run by teams of software developers, marketers, corporations, and other constituents that are long-term contributors to the ICON project.
Where Can You Buy ICON Network (ICX)?
ICX is available on FTX, Binance, Uniswap (V2), BitStamp and Gate.io.
ICX was first tradable on 27th Oct, 2017. It has a total supply of 971,568,932.5,282,459. As of right now ICX has a market capitalization of USD $308,889,159.96. The current price of ICX is $0.318 and is ranked 122 on Coinmarketcap and has recently surged 32.83 percent at the time of writing.
ICX has been listed on a number of crypto exchanges, unlike other main cryptocurrencies, it cannot be directly purchased with fiats money. However, You can still easily buy this coin by first buying Bitcoin from any fiat-to-crypto exchanges and then transfer to the exchange that offers to trade this coin, in this guide article we will walk you through in detail the steps to buy ICX.
Step 1: Register on Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange
You will have to first buy one of the major cryptocurrencies, in this case, Bitcoin (BTC). In this article we will walk you through in details two of the most commonly-used fiat-to-crypto exchanges, Uphold.com and Coinbase. Both exchanges have their own fee policies and other features that we will go through in detail. It is recommended that you try both of them and figure out the one that suits you best.
Select Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange for details:
- UpHold
Being one of the most popular and convenient fiat-to-crypto exchanges, UpHold has the following advantages:
- Easy to buy and trade among multiple assets, more than 50 and still adding
- Currently more than 7M users worldwide
- You can apply for UpHold Debit card where you can spend the crypto assets on your account like a normal debit card! (US only but will be in the UK later)
- Easy to use mobile app where you can withdraw fund to a bank or any other altcoin exchanges easily
- No hidden fees and any other account fees
- There are limited buy/sell orders for more advanced users
- You can easily set up recurring deposits for Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) if you intend to hold cryptos long term
- USDT, which is one of the most popular USD-backed stablecoins (basically a crypto that is backed by real fiat money so they are less volatile and can be treated almost as the fiat money it's pegged with) is available, this is more convenient if the altcoin you intend to buy has only USDT trading pairs on the altcoin exchange so you don't have to go through another currency conversion while you buy the altcoin.
Type your email and click 'Next'. Make sure you provide your real name as UpHold will need it for account and identity verification. Choose a strong password so that your account isn't vulnerable to hackers.
You will receive a confirmation email. Open it and click on the link within. You will then be required to provide a valid mobile number to set up two-factor authentication (2FA), it is an extra layer to the security of your account and it is highly recommended that you keep this feature turned on.
Follow the next step to finish your identity verification. These steps are a bit daunting especially when you are waiting to buy an asset but just like any other financial institutions, UpHold is regulated in most countries such as the US, the UK and the EU. You can take this as a trade-off to using a trusted platform to make your first crypto purchase. Good news is that the whole so-called Know-Your-Customers (KYC) process is now fully automated and it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to finish.
Step 2: Buy BTC with fiat money
Once you finished the KYC process. You will be asked to add a payment method. Here you can either choose to provide a credit/debit card or use a bank transfer. You may be charged higher fees depending on your credit card company and the volatile prices when using cards but you will also make an instant purchase. While a bank transfer will be cheaper but slower, depending on the country of your residence, some countries will offer instant cash deposit with low fees.
Now you are all set, on the 'Transact' screen under the 'From' field, select your fiat currency, and then on the 'To' field choose Bitcoin, click preview to review your transaction and the click confirm if everything looks good... and congrats! You've just made your first crypto purchase.
Step 3: Transfer BTC to an Altcoin Exchange
Select altcoin exchanges:
- Gate.io
- Binance
But we are not done yet, since ICX is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that ICX can be traded, here we will use Gate.io as our exchange. Gate.io is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.
Gate.io is an American cryptocurrency exchange that launched 2017. As the exchange is American, US-investors can of course trade here and we recommend US traders to sign up on this exchange. The exchange is available both in English and Chinese (the latter being very helpful for Chinese investors). Gate.io’s main selling factor is their wide selection of trading pairs. You can find most of the new altcoins here. Gate.io also demonstrates an impressive trading volume. It is almost every day one of the top 20 exchanges with the highest trading volume. The trading volume amounts to approx. USD 100 million on a daily basis. The top 10 trading pairs on Gate.io in terms of trading volume usually have USDT (Tether) as one part of the pair. So, to summarize the foregoing, Gate.io’s vast number of trading pairs and its extraordinary liquidity are both very impressive aspects of this exchange.
After going through a similar process as we've done before with UpHold, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.
Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you're done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.
If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don't worry, it's basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying 'BTC address', this is a unique public address of your BTC wallet at Gate.io and you can receive BTC by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought BTC on UpHold to this wallet, click on 'Copy Address' or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.
Now head back to UpHold, go to the Transact screen and click on BTC on the "From" field, choose the amount you wan to send and on the "To" field choose BTC under "Crypto Network", then click "Preview withdraw".
On the next screen, paste the wallet address from your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both addresses are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.
After reviewing, click 'Confirm' to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to Gate.io!
Now go back to Gate.io and head to your exchange wallets, don't worry if you haven't seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the Bitcoin network, during busy times it may take even longer.
You should receive a confirmation notification from Gate.io once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase ICX!
Step 5: Trade ICX
Go back to Gate.io, then go to 'Exchange'. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let's get our heads around this.
In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure "BTC" is selected as we are trading BTC to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in "ICX", you should see ICX/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of ICX/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy ICX", inside of the box, choose the "Market" tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy ICX". Voila! You have finally bought ICX!
But we are not done yet, since ICX is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that ICX can be traded, here we will use Binance as our exchange. Binance is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.
Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange which was started in China but then moved their headquarters to the crypto-friendly Island of Malta in the EU. Binance is popular for its crypto to crypto exchange services. Binance exploded onto the scene in the mania of 2017 and has since gone on to become the top crypto exchange in the world. Unfortunately, Binance does not allow US investors so we recommend you to sign up on other exchanges we recommend on this page.
After going through a similar process as we've done before with UpHold, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.
Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you're done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.
If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don't worry, it's basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying 'BTC address', this is a unique public address of your BTC wallet at Binance and you can receive BTC by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought BTC on UpHold to this wallet, click on 'Copy Address' or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.
Now head back to UpHold, go to the Transact screen and click on BTC on the "From" field, choose the amount you wan to send and on the "To" field choose BTC under "Crypto Network", then click "Preview withdraw".
On the next screen, paste the wallet address from your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both addresses are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.
After reviewing, click 'Confirm' to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to Binance!
Now go back to Binance and head to your exchange wallets, don't worry if you haven't seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the Bitcoin network, during busy times it may take even longer.
You should receive a confirmation notification from Binance once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase ICX!
Step 5: Trade ICX
Go back to Binance, then go to 'Exchange'. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let's get our heads around this.
In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure "BTC" is selected as we are trading BTC to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in "ICX", you should see ICX/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of ICX/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy ICX", inside of the box, choose the "Market" tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy ICX". Voila! You have finally bought ICX!
Last Step: Store ICX securely in hardware wallets
Ledger Nano S
- Easy to set up and friendly interface
- Can be used on desktops and laptops
- Lightweight and Portable
- Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20/BEP-20) tokens
- Multiple languages available
- Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
- Affordable price
Ledger Nano X
- More powerful secure element chip (ST33) than Ledger Nano S
- Can be used on desktop or laptop, or even smartphone and tablet through Bluetooth integration
- Lightweight and Portable with built-in rechargeable battery
- Larger screen
- More storage space than Ledger Nano S
- Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20/BEP-20) tokens
- Multiple languages available
- Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
- Affordable price
If you are planning to keep("hodl" as some may say, basically misspelt "hold" which get popularised over time) your ICX for a considerable long time, you may want to explore ways of keeping it safe, although Binance is one of the safest cryptocurrency exchange there had been hacking incidents and funds were lost. Because of the very nature of the wallets in exchanges, they will be always online("Hot Wallets" as we call them), therefore exposing certain aspects of vulnerabilities. The safest way of storing your coins to date is always putting them into a type of "Cold Wallets", where the wallet will only have access to the blockchain(or simply "go online") when you send out funds, reducing the chances of hacking incidents. A paper wallet is a type of free cold wallet, it's basically an offline-generated pair of public and private address and you will have it written somewhere, and keep it safe. However, it is not durable and is susceptible to various hazards.
Hardware wallet here is definitely a better option of cold wallets. They are usually USB-enabled devices that store the key information of your wallet in a more durable way. They are built with military-level security and their firmware are constantly maintained by their manufacturers and thus extremely safe. Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X and are the most popular options in this category, these wallets cost around $50 to $100 depending on the features they are offering. If you are holding your assets these wallets are a good investment in our opinion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy ICX with cash?
There is no direct way to buy ICX with cash. However, you can use marketplaces such as LocalBitcoins to first purchase BTC, and finish the rest of the steps by transferring your BTC to respective AltCoin exchanges.
LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange. It is a marketplace where users can buy and sell Bitcoins to and from each other. Users, called traders, create advertisements with the price and the payment method they want to offer. You can choose to buy from sellers from a certain nearby region on the platform. is after all a good place to go to buy Bitcoins when you can't find your desired payment methods anywhere else. But prices are usually higher on this platform and you have to do your due diligence to avoid getting scammed.
Are there any quick ways to buy ICX in Europe?
Yes, in fact, Europe is one of the easiest places to buy cryptos in general. There are even online banks which you can simply open an account and transfer money to exchanges such as Coinbase and Uphold.
Are there any alternative platforms to buy ICX or Bitcoin with credit cards?
Yes. is also a very easy to use platform for buying Bitcoin with credit cards. It is an instant cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to exchange crypto fast and buy it with a bank card. Its user interface is very easy to use and the buying steps are pretty self-explanatory.