When Quantum Mechanics and Crypto Meet: QTum
What we want to do in this article is to tell you what Quantum is and how it works, precisely through quantum mechanics.
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The world of cryptocurrencies is a strange one.
You start from scratch, then you frequent this blog and, guide after guide, one news item at a time, you start to understand something of how it works.
Until quantum mechanics comes into play. There's trouble.
But wait, don't throw it all away: what I want to do in this article is tell you what Quantum is and how it works, through quantum mechanics.
And who knows, maybe after reading this article you'll not only want to learn more about the crypto world, but you'll also start to take an interest in quantum physics.
Shall we give it a try?
One look at quantum mechanics
First of all, I want to put your mind at ease.
You won't find any strange mathematical formulas here that will turn your brain inside out. This article is still about blockchain
But it is curious how a blockchain called 'Quantum' really has so much in common with the principles of quantum mechanics. And to really understand it in depth, perhaps we should take a leap into the singular world of the quanta.
Let's start with two key concepts of quantum mechanics that will come in handy in explaining QTum's functionality:
As you may have guessed, if you are not familiar with it, quantum physics is a bit like the 'strange' friend of classical physics, the one we experience every day.
You don't need a degree to understand how this blockchain works, but as soon as I explain some of its key features, the similarity to the concepts I just told you about will be immediately clear.
What is QTum and how it works
First of all, Quantum (or QTum, its abbreviation) was born in 2017, practically the day before yesterday.
And yes, it is promising. But let the numbers speak for themselves: in fact, at launch 10,000 Bitcoins and 72,000 Ether were collected. Today, one Bitcoin is worth about 56,000 euros, and one Ether about 2,500. You can take your calculator and do the calculations at your leisure.
In a rather ironic way, QTum is referred to as the 'Chinese Ethereum', not because of the dubious quality that - alas - characterises products of Chinese origin, but because its team is predominantly composed of Chinese people.
Patrick Dai, founder and CEO of QTum, has in-depth experience in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, and worked (albeit briefly) at Alibaba, before dedicating himself to this project.
Neil Mahi is instead the co-founder and Chief Blockchain Architect of QTUM. With his 20 years of experience as a software developer and engineer, and over 5 years of specific experience in the blockchain industry,
he has played a truly pivotal role in the realisation of QTum's architecture.
QTum's goal seems simple enough: to create a hybrid blockchain platform that combines the security of Bitcoin's blockchain with the flexibility of Ethereum's smart contracts, making the technology more accessible and versatile for businesses and developers.
How does he achieve this? For this, let's pick up on the info I gave you about Quantum.
A little bit of Bitcoin...
What QTum exploits about Bitcoin is the UtXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model, i.e. that part of a blockchain transaction that has not yet been used as input in a subsequent transaction.
The alternative is the outdated and trivial account-based model, which, just as the name suggests, is quite similar to a bank account balance.
So what are the advantages?
...and a little bit of Ethereum
Just say smart contracts to explain what QTum exploits of Ethereum.
One of Ethereum's main innovations was in fact the introduction of smart contracts, which allow autonomous and self-executing codes to be executed directly on the blockchain.
All of this is based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), a platform already used for Ethereum development and which allows developers to use it in the same way on QTum.
And, go figure, they even share the same code, solidity, with which smart contracts are made.
A friend for mobile
If QTum is a huge success and expectations are high, there must be a reason.
Of the many that I have already mentioned, one is surely that of being mobile friendly, giving the possibility of facilitating the execution of transactions and smart contracts also on mobile devices.
All this in spite of many other blockchains that, on the contrary, require a great deal of computing power to execute complete nodes and manage smart contracts.
And all this thanks to 3 truly unique features:
What to expect from QTum?
Quantum physics is taking its steps, and the scientists who study and experiment with it aim to better understand the universe. It would be really nice to witness the unification of classical physics and quantum mechanics, a link that is still missing to this day.
In the same way, we can also expect great news from QTum, which, although a relatively recent project, given its initial success, really holds all the cards to become one of the most important in the crypto world.
But what's cooking in the pot, then?
In short, we are going to see a lot. Summarising to the extreme, we can say that one of QTum's rebound objectives is also to bring more users closer to the world of cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance, creating an ecosystem that promises to be very promising indeed.
But you know, the pitfalls in this world are many. Like so many other projects, QTum has also had to face considerable challenges, such as leaving the Chinese market, which has increasingly tightened the screw around the cryptocurrency market in recent years. Nonetheless, it has never had to overcome any major legal hurdles (right, SEC?).
All we can hope for is that the project continues to thrive, continuing, as it has from the start, to collect consensus.
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