ICON is an open-source Layer 1 delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) blockchain and smart contract platform focused on connecting different blockchains and their respective communities. ICON's Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP) is a trustless and chain-agnostic interoperability solution that supports generic smart contract calls between connected blockchains. 
It provides a high-performance smart contract execution environment powered by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is ideal for developing minimal-latency cross-chain dApps. The ICON blockchain is governed by validators elected through the network's ICX staking and delegation mechanism.