Ice Open Network

Ice Open Network utilizes Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance for consensus in a proof-of-authority variant system, with an active validator set of approximately 200. However, stake distribution shows emerging concentration influenced by founders and strategic holders, with an estimated Nakamoto Coefficient of 5-9 due to potential sybil risks where entities could operate multiple validators, undermining diversity and leading to a lower Decentralization score despite moderate geographic spread. Security is lacking, supported by economic security of only ~$9 million from staked ICE, with no major layer-one consensus attacks or downtime in 2025, though the low value exposes ongoing risks to well-funded adversaries and minor unexploited vulnerabilities in bridges highlight ecosystem fragility. Speed is fast, featuring average block times of 2-3 seconds and near-instant finality within one block, equating to roughly 3 seconds. Real-world throughput currently averages 1 transaction per second due to low usage, though theoretical capacity reaches millions of TPS via multi-shard architecture inherited from TON, with design supporting 2,000-5,000 TPS under load yet remaining untested at scale. Immutability is strong but flexible, with no state reversals and upgrades executed through community-voted hard forks, occurring typically 1-2 times in 2025 without admin keys or halts. Censorship Resistance is moderate, as the protocol lacks blacklists or compliance mandates, and the young history shows no documented filtering, though validator concentration at 30-40% among top entities enables plausible collusion risks. Distribution is moderate, characterized by broad ownership across over 334,000 holders from community mining, but with insiders and foundation-related pools holding 20-30%, enabling potential influence on governance despite no premine or ICO.