What is Qtum (QTUM)?
Qtum is the native token for the blockchain platform of the same name. It was developed as an ERC-20 token. The Qtum network provides decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain development services, including dApps and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It’s a hybrid blockchain that was developed on the Ethereum platform from a Bitcoin Core fork.
The Qtum blockchain is decentralized, open-source, and general purpose, allowing for more developmental flexibility. It aims to enhance the programming and transaction mechanics used by Ethereum and Bitcoin by providing upgraded blockchain technology for smart contracts. You can use the dynamic chart above to explore the historical Qtum price data.
What is the Story of Qtum?
The Qtum Foundation was co-founded in 2016 by computer scientist Patrick Dai, blockchain architect Neil Mahi, and software engineer Jordan Earls. The Qtum crypto project development was greenlit the same year.
Dai has worked on large-scale blockchain projects in China that focused on Bitcoin mining. He also has prior experience as a product developer at the e-commerce giant Alibaba. Mahi has more than two decades of experience in software development. Earls is a blockchain technology expert who focuses on token security and smart contract programming.
Qtum’s goal is to solve some of the key issues faced by large-scale blockchain networks, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in particular. Due to their size, these networks are often difficult to scale and they can only be interoperable if the user holds wrapped tokens. Bitcoin also doesn’t support smart contracts which have become an integral part of DeFi.
Furthermore, both networks use the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism, which is costly and resource-intensive. To counter this, the Qtum crypto platform was developed to use a new iteration of Proof-of-Stake (PoS), making it faster and more scalable, while maintaining the strengths of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In March 2017, the Qtum team held an initial coin offering (ICO), raising around $15 million. The platform was officially launched in September of the same year. On the day of the launch, the Qtum price was worth just under $12. While Qtum was initially created as an ERC-20 token, the platform converted it to a native asset once the Mainnet went online.
The asset has been volatile since its inception, with very frequent price fluctuations. However, it has not strictly followed the overall market trends. The cryptocurrency achieved its first significant peak in 2018. In January of that year, the QTUM price exceeded $100 for the first time, although its value dropped by half several days later.
In July 2022, the Qtum network successfully completed a hard fork. It was a mandatory update that implemented new Taproot features, the Berlin and London EVM upgrades, and fixed various system bugs. The network warned the users that they’d temporarily lose control of their coins if they did not update their Qtum Core Wallet.
How Does Qtum Work?
Qtum is a deflationary asset. Its maximum supply is 100,000,000 QTUM. The limited amount of tokens means that the Qtum price is likely to rise as supply grows shorter. However, while the maximum supply is currently limited, it’s not hard-capped and can be changed by a governance vote.
As a hybrid blockchain, Qtum has the features of both Ethereum and Bitcoin. The platform supports the development of DeFi solutions, such as dApps and tokens. Developers are able to program their own smart contracts and build blockchain-based applications.
Qtum is a general-purpose blockchain, meaning that it’s used for developing other blockchain-based applications and tools. The programming on Qtum relies heavily on smart contracts and is enhanced by two novel technologies:
- Account Abstraction Layer (AAL) – a tool used to enhance unspent transaction output (UTXO);
- Decentralized Governance Protocol (DGP) – a tool that adjusts the internal parameters of smart contracts.
Qtum utilizes an upgraded version of Bitcoin’s UTXO model. All transactions are completed by using inputs—wallet addresses that the assets are sent from—and outputs, which are the addresses that the assets are sent to. Normally, Bitcoin doesn’t support smart contracts. Qtum’s UTXO was tweaked using AAL to provide this support.
The Account Abstraction Layer provides support for turing-complete smart contracts. Applications built on Qtum are EVM-compatible and can also be hosted on other virtual machines. Since the AAL supports a range of programming languages, including C and Python, it can be used to integrate non-blockchain apps with Qtum.
The Decentralized Governance Protocol is a scalability solution that allows users to change smart contracts without needing to fork away from the core blockchain. It’s possible to adjust settings such as the block size or the standard gas fees. Therefore, the QTUM price for services depends on the smart contract’s parameters.
Qtum uses a modified version of Proof-of-Stake, known as the Mutualized Proof-of-Stake (MPoS) consensus algorithm, to ensure network security and data integrity. While typically the stakeholders are chosen as validators based on the number of tokens they’ve locked and how long they’ve been staking, with MPoS, only the amount is the vital factor.
All rewards on MPoS networks are programmed to be proportional. This means that the amount of rewards that users receive depends on the staked amount. Similar to Bitcoin, the reward that a validator can earn per block is halved every four years.
If the maximum supply of QTUM is not altered, it’s estimated that the block rewards will reach zero by 2045. However, the deflationary design of the cryptocurrency means that with time, the Qtum price value for the halved rewards will also increase.
The community can also use Qtum coins to participate in the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The network uses a standard blockchain governance model, where users can submit proposals and vote on protocol changes and upgrades. This ensures blockchain decentralization and the transparency of the project.
