Qtum makes the blockchain accessible to companies looking to build decentralized applications. These applications then work on mobile devices and are compatible with the existing major ecosystems of the blockchain, something that hasn’t previously been possible. Qtum essentially is a toolkit for creating trusted decentralized applications that can be used in the real world for business-oriented purposes.
Qtum uses an inter-compatible variation of the popular Ethereum Virtual Machine along with a modification of the Bitcoin Core infrastructure. This combination allows for the reliability associated with the blockchain plus the limitlessness of smart contracts.
Who Is Behind Qtum?
The team behind Qtum comes from multiple sources, including Ethereum and Bitcoin communities and traditional companies, including Alibaba, NASDAQ, Baidu, and Tencent. The team includes those with experience in traditional venture capitalism, with the blockchain, and as executives of the largest tech companies in China.
Patrick Dai has extensive blockchain experience and worked with Alibaba. Neil Mahi has 20 years of experience working with software development plus four years with the blockchain. Jordan Earls is part of the cryptocurrency community and has done software development for years. Yunqi “Caspal” Ouyang is a web developer, Baiqiang Dong studied theoretical mechanics, and Xiaolong “Stephen” Xu has software development experience. The list goes on to include another dozen team members with similar experience.
What Sets Qtum Apart from Other Decentralized App Systems?
Qtum was designed specifically to include interoperability, stability, and modularity. Its hybrid nature combines elements taken from Ethereum and Bitcoin infrastructures, providing the perfect combination of benefits. It also has a PoS consensus protocol that is one of the first of its kind and lets it maintain compatibility with all the major blockchain ecosystems. At the same time, it has native support for both IoT applications and mobile devices.
What Are the Components of Qtum?
As a hybrid blockchain application, Qtum has multiple technologies within it. The core technology combines Proof of Stake consensus, the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), other virtual machines in the Account Abstraction Layer, and some Bitcoin Core. The team behind Qtum feels that this combination allows for the running of decentralized applications and smart contracts on a platform that is familiar yet offers enough for developers to work with.
What Is the Account Abstract Layer?
The Account Abstract Layer of Qtum connects the Unspent Transaction Output model from the Bitcoin Core with the EVM. Because of this innovation, it becomes possible to run decentralized applications and execute smart contracts in a secure and simple manner in environments that you couldn’t do so before.
Prior to Qtum’s Account Abstract Layer, others have tried to develop smart contract systems that used the Bitcoin blockchain. However, all of them failed to reach the mainstream or simply had numerous issues because the Bitcoin blockchain and Ethereum use different models: associating coins with an address vs. an account-based model. The Account Abstract Layer manages to connect these disparate models, allowing seamless functionality.
What Can Businesses Do with Qtum?
With Qtum, businesses, legacy institutions, and established sectors are now able to utilize blockchain technology with ease, whether they have a deep technological background. Using Qtum, it is possible to create tokens and then automate the process of supply chain management and even create self-executing agreements. Everything is done in the standardized environment that has been thoroughly tested to verify stability.
Qtum works to develop methods and tools that standardize the work associated with developing business smart contracts. The tools can specify elements, conditions, and terms while resisting errors; formally verify translations from agreements readable by humans into machine smart contracts; and more.
How Does Qtum Work on Mobile Devices?
The vast majority of blockchain platforms focus on computer-related applications, but Qtum also allows for mobile solutions. This is because the SPV (simple payment verification) protocol has default support from the Qtum codebase thanks to its influence from the Bitcoin UTXO model. That default support allows smart contracts to be executed using lite wallets that are available for all mobile devices.
Essentially, Qtum allows for mobile decentralized applications in addition to non-mobile ones. This is an important ability since about half of all the traffic on the internet comes from tablets and smartphones. While other programs don’t work with this traffic, Qtum does.
In addition to reaching mobile platforms, Qtum can reach other environments that Turing-complete blockchains could not in the past. This comes down to the extension of the Bitcoin “script” language that sends the code to Qtum’s EVM. That, in turn, allows the running of decentralized applications and executing smart contracts. Now more environments can take advantage of the Bitcoin ecosystem’s maturity and stability, plus smart contract possibilities.
QTUM Tokens
The crowdsale for Qtum lasted from March 16 to April 15, 2017. Overall, 100 million coins were distributed, with 51 percent available to the public via the sale. The remaining 49 percent was divided up as follows: 20 percent went to the development team, foundation initiators, and early backers, with another 20 percent allocated to business development. The final 9 percent went to academic research, market expansions, and education.
How to Buy QTUM
You are not able to purchase QTUM with “Fiat” currency so you will need to first purchase another currency – the easiest to buy are Bitcoin or Ethereum which you can do at Coinbase using a bank transfer or debit / credit card purchase and then swap that for QTUM at an exchange such as Binance.
Register at Coinbase
For first time buyers of crypto currency, we recommend that you use Coinbase to make your first purchase – its easy to use, fully regulated by the US government so you know it is one of the safest and most reputable places to purchase cryptocurrency from. Coinbase offers the ability to purchase Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum with a credit or debit card or by sending a bank transfer. The fees are higher for cards but you will receive your currency instantly.
You will have to carry out some identity verification when signing up as they have to adhere to strict financial guidelines. Make sure you use our link to signup you will be credited with $10 in free bitcoin when you make your first purchase of $100.
To get started, click the “Sign up” button where you will be taken to a registration form where you will need to enter your name, email and choose a password.
Purchase Ethereum
For this guide, we will be purchasing Ethereum to swap for our target cryptocurrency. The reason for this is that it has far cheaper fees than bitcoin for sending and the transaction also happens a lot faster. So in Coinbase, visit the “Buy / Sell” tab at the top, select “Ethereum”, choose your payment method and enter the amount you wish to purchase – you can either enter a US Dollar amount or a number of Ether.
You will then be asked to confirm your transaction, if paying with a card you might have to complete a verification with your card provider. Once that’s complete, your Ethererum will be added to your account.
Purchase XLM at Binance or Kucoin
You can now send your Ether over to Binance to make your purchase of QTUM, take a look at our review of Binance here to see how to signup and purchase on their exchange.
QTUM is also available to purchase on the Kucoin Exchange, take a look at our guide here to find out how to use this exchange.
Once you have purchased your QTUM, we recommend you store them off the exchange if you plan to hold them for a while.
What Does Qtum Hope to Achieve in the Future?
Through its development and cooperation with third parties and partners alike, Qtum wants to set industry standards. The team hopes to create a smart contract hub with highly secure templates that have already undergone thorough testing. These smart contracts will include customized options for various industries, such as social networks, supply chain management, IoT, and telecommunications.
The Qtum Foundation wants to develop the public blockchain that businesses will use. Once the development is complete, the team wants various industries to be able to take advantage of it, even those not traditionally in the technological sector. The industries Qtum hopes to reach include industrial logistics, manufacturing, mobile telecommunications, finance, and counterfeit protection.
In all aspects of development, Qtum looks toward the future. That is why Qtum is compatible with all existing Bitcoin gateways and Ethereum contracts. It will also have backward compatibility to ensure functionality even with future updates.
Conclusion
By combining the most useful aspects of the Ethereum and Bitcoin infrastructures, Qtum should offer businesses and individuals a more straightforward and effective method of using the blockchain to create decentralized applications. While it will start small, Qtum can grow quickly thanks to its usefulness, providing a helpful tool for companies in a range of industries.
