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Decentralized applications (DApps) are what unlock myriad of use cases for blockchain. As a layer-1 blockchain for DApps, Ice Open Network is currently having a key moment in its journey. ICE is being phased out, with ION rolling out as the new token, while the project also launches a social app, Online+.
Joining a recent Cointelegraph AMA session, Alexandru Iulian Florea, the CEO of ION, said the focus is on usability and distribution, noting that adoption follows familiar experiences: “We’re building something that nobody else did; in the front it’s designed to be very, very Web2-friendly.”
What Comes After Web2: AMA on Online+, Digital Ownership, and the ION Framework [Brought to you by @ice_blockchain] https://t.co/cGKlIItdNQ
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) December 17, 2025
The consumer-first social layer launches
Florea said the starting point of ION is a distribution problem: making crypto adoption simple enough to reach mainstream mobile users. He said the project began as a mobile mining app that scaled quickly, which later became the base for building the layer 1 and the broader DApp framework.
“In the first week we got over 1 million users, and about 30 million users in the next seven months,” he noted when touching on the early growth phase that preceded the chain and framework buildout.
Online+ sits on top of that stack as the flagship product and reference implementation. Florea decsribed it as a full social app rather than a crypto interface, with familiar social formats and messaging defaults designed around privacy. He added that the goal is a familiar user experience, while giving users control over their data through cryptographic signing at the action level.
Florea also shared early usage stats recorded since launch. Online+ crossed 1.3 million users in roughly a month and a half, showing engagement levels he defined as meaningful for a new social product. “On average, one user spends more than 15 minutes per day, and there are days with more than 100,000 unique users,” he said.
Tokenized communities and creator monetization
A major focus in the AMA was ION’s monetization layer, and how it routes value to creators. Florea argued that social networks tend to concentrate revenue while creators are the ones that generate most of the platform’s value.
He outlined a model in which multiple revenue streams on Online+ fund creator rewards, including ads, premium accounts, swaps and tokenized community activity. The project’s Tokenized Communities issue creator-specific tokens and distribute revenue directly through them. Florea said the mechanism buys back creator tokens and removes supply as part of the distribution process, while making creator earnings visible onchain.
The AMA also covered PumpIt, a Chrome extension that overlays token creation and trading directly onto X. Florea described a workflow where a user can tokenize a post from within the feed, with the ticker name and image generated automatically. “AI will automatically create the ticker name, the token name and image based on that specific post,” he said, adding that the tool limits issuance to one token per post to avoid duplication dynamics. He positioned the extension as a distribution layer that connects Online+ token mechanics with existing social graphs and desktop-first crypto behavior, while keeping assets tradeable across both surfaces.
Native token migration
The project’s native token, ICE, began its migration to ION, landing to user wallets through Online+. Florea said the team made a deliberate decision to keep the migration off exchanges — even if it resulted in short-term friction — because it concentrates token holders and activity inside the product environment. “This migration can be the first time in history that all our holders will be under one roof,” he said when explaining the decision to ask exchanges to delist ICE and avoid in-exchange swapping.
According to CEO, the rollout was a staged activation over roughly 72 hours, followed by additional time for slower users to complete the move. The rationale was to reduce last-minute confusion as trading and broader integrations resume, while the team validates new features tied to token activity inside the app.
When wrapping things up, Florea outlined the project’s longer-term strategy: scaling adoption by moving from a single flagship app to a modular ecosystem, where communities and businesses can launch their own apps without deep technical requirements.
He compared the distribution model to mainstream website tooling and framed the next step as a no-code builder planned for 2026. “It will allow anybody to launch an app in under an hour and publish it to the App Store under their own brand,” he said, describing the outcome ION aims to enable through its framework and templates.
