Inter-exchange Client Address Protocol (ICAP)
Web3 / infrastructure applications
Inter-exchange Client Address Protocol (ICAP) is an Ethereum address encoding standard designed to improve compatibility with traditional banking infrastructure by encoding Ethereum addresses in a format similar to the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) system. ICAP addresses begin with the country code "XE" followed by a checksum and the encoded Ethereum address, making them more recognizable to banking systems and reducing transcription errors. While originally promoted for cross-chain interoperability and institutional adoption, ICAP adoption remained limited as most platforms continued using standard hexadecimal Ethereum addresses, though the protocol remains part of Ethereum's formal specification. Example: Parity Ethereum wallet initially supported ICAP address generation and validation, allowing users to send transactions using ICAP-formatted addresses that were automatically converted to standard hex addresses on-chain. Why it matters for blockchain infrastructure: ICAP demonstrates efforts to bridge blockchain systems with legacy financial standards, potentially facilitating institutional adoption and reducing address-related errors in transaction processing.
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