Qtum: Combining the best of big crypto

Qtum is a blockchain solution combining the perks of Ethereum and Bitcoin; this currency blends the smart contract functionality of Ethereum and the UTXO transaction output model of Bitcoin. As a result, Qtum offers a platform suitable for large organizations' blockchain needs. The project aims to provide solutions for various industries, from finance to social media. To learn the exciting trivia behind Qtum's story, software, token, and solutions, continue reading this article!

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The compact history of Qtum

Founded in 2016 by Patrick Dai, Jordan Earls, and Neil Mahl, Qtum was created to merge the positives of Bitcoin and Ethereum design models for the profit of application developers. The goal is to offer a competitive platform with Ethereum’s flexible smart contracts and Bitcoin’s security. This kind of solution is incredibly luring for business-focused decentralized applications (dApps) that require a high level of safety and adaptability.

Qtum held its initial coin offering in 2017. The Qtum Foundation operating behind the project raised $15 million by selling 51% of the Qtum token; the rest was distributed to investors, the founding team or earmarked for business development. The coin offering consisted of 100 million tokens. The project sparked a good amount of interest, as the developers could offer a real solution to the problem of connecting smart contracts with real-life applications.

Qtum software trivia

Crucial for Qtum’s strive for top-tier security, the blockchain relies on Bitcoin’s UTXO model operating as a state-of-the-art accounting system known for its high-level transaction security. Furthermore, as a legacy from Ethereum, Qtum utilizes smart contract technology. Smart contracts are self-executing contracts performing functions on the blockchain if preconditions are met. Once the contract goes through, it is irrevocable.

Besides borrowing good old blockchain solutions, Qtum differs from Ethereum and Bitcoin at multiple crucial points. For instance, Qtum deploys the so-called AAL-technology (Account Abstraction Layer), enabling the interaction between the UTXO and smart contract models borrowed from the big crypto.

Another crucial difference to its forefathers, Qtum utilizes the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model, while Bitcoin and Ethereum are based on the proof-of-work (PoW) model. Hence, Qtum is less resource-intensive as it does not require any electricity-consuming hardcore mining. The difference between PoS and PoW consensus models is based on the way the blocks are verified; in a proof-of-work model, miners compete over solving complex math problems the fastest, while a proof-of-stake system requires stakers to verify blocks based on their own stakes. So in practice, the bigger the stake, the more likely the user is selected to verify transactions.

QTUM, the token

Natural for blockchains, also Qtum has a token known as QTUM. It is used to pay fees to the operators of the network. In addition, ownership of QTUM coins provides voting rights in the governance system; just like when buying shares from a stock exchange, you get a vote. Thankfully, this practice often applies to crypto and QTUM — besides the value change-related perks, crypto ownership has its other advantages.

The future of Qtum

Qtum is a luring blockchain software basis for different business types and models, so it’s good to keep an eye on it. Qtum is a noteworthy competitor in the dApp sector by offering a standardized and safe development environment for smart contracts. Moreover, Qtum can be applied in various sectors from production to planning, logistics, and other external partner systems. The key of Qtum is to be widely compatible and interoperable.

Qtum is striving to stay valid and up-to-date, and lately, the public has witnessed a fair amount of rebranding from the crypto’s logo to a new website. The developers of Qtum are also trying to communicate the technology to the audience. The rumor has it that even the name Qtum might be changed into something else at some point in the future.

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