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ICON shows off ICX vending machine at summit

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Andrew Munro
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The ICX vending machine might be a demonstration of ICON's upcoming U-coin system for Korean universities.

ICON (ICX) did the rounds with a cryptocurrency vending machine at its summit in Korea. Functionally it's much like any other vending machine. ICX goes in, snacks come out.

Beyond that it's a glimpse at one of the objectives laid out in the ICON roadmap: the implementation of ICX vending machines to help turn ICX into a more functional currency, alongside its functions as a payment network and blockchain solution.

The installation marks another minor step on ICON’s 2018 roadmap and is likely a precursor of its planned U-coin system set to roll out on university campuses in Q1 2018 as part of ICON's integrated blockchain-based payment and transaction system.

ICON isn’t the only coin that plans to take its blockchain to the street corner.

Cardano (ADA) is planning to put ADA vending machines on the streets of Japan in 2018 and Ripple ATMs have already made appearances in Korea. And still neither can match the ubiquity of bitcoin ATMs and acceptance of it as payment.

But for speculators, the connection between coin price and availability as a payment method isn’t entirely clear.

Cryptocurrencies as a whole are still speculative assets rather than payment systems, and a coin's investment potential might be at odds with use as a payment system. In the case of ICX, it seems like real world use cases, viability as a payment system and widespread adoption are the priority.

Intuitively one might expect adoption to translate into higher coin prices. But in the real world that ICON increasingly inhabits, where high prices and speculative potential can be a barrier to adoption, high token prices aren't always desirable.

What is ICON and how to buy ICX.

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