Qtum is one of the most popular day trading coins. Qtum, pronounced ‘Quantum’, is a coin that essentially merges the reliability of bitcoin’s blockchain with the possibilities of smart contracts, for business-oriented uses. This page will detail precisely how Qtum trading works, including its history, exchanges, wallets and mining.
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What is Qtum?
Qtum aims to utilise and enhance existing blockchain technologies to develop a network for global business applications. Therefore, concepts and established code have been taken from blockchains, such as bitcoin and ethereum.
So the simplest way to think about Qtum is as a toolkit for building decentralised applications (Dapps). Its hybrid makeup has helped it to develop a unique PoS consensus protocol while retaining compatibility with blockchain systems. In addition, native support is available for both mobile devices and IoT appliances.
History
With headquarters in Singapore, both the cryptocurrency and technology are being developed by the Qtum Foundation. So far, Asian markets have been the focus of marketing efforts, earning it the nickname ‘Chinese Ethereum’. However, its popularity is now on the rise in countries apart from China, Japan and Korea.
The company and its cryptocurrency have attracted most of its funding from 11 angel investors. One of the backers is Anthony Di Iorio, a founder of ethereum. He said of Qtum, “All in all, I believe them to be the best team out of China and Asia. This has led them to see where improvements are needed in smart contract platforms, learn from mistakes of ethereum, and focus on the region they know best.”
Initial discussions and reviews saw the company raise $1 million USD from investors. With those funds, they created the testnet and early implementation. Following positive news announcements from their early success, they were able to raise $15.6 million in a 5-day crowd-sale in March 2017.
The company’s encouraging long-term prospects is in part due to the established figures within the team. For example, they have a huge range of developers and blockchain professionals, including Neil Mahi and Jordan Earls. Both are considered veterans in the cryptocurrency and blockchain world.
Qtum Uses
Qtum is primarily for businesses, promising a straightforward way to embrace blockchain without the risks and complexities that come with bitcoin and ethereum. As a result, it can be used to:
- Develop hybrid smart contracts that are more secure than those on ethereum. Smart contracts will hopefully facilitate large business-to-business transactions in the future, removing the need for middlemen and high transaction fees.
- While ethereum offers a limited library, you can create lightweight Apps in virtually any computer language with Qtum. There are already a number of applications built on the Qtum chain, including healthcare records, prediction markets and artist copyright protections.
For more detailed descriptions of Qtum’s practical uses, head online and read the white paper.
Technology
The platform allows for both smart contracts and master contracts with off-chain data. Master contracts actually achieve far more than normal smart contracts. Of course smart contracting is already available with NEO and ethereum. However, Qtum combines this with bitcoin’s UTXO, otherwise known as ‘unspent transaction output’, which nodes use to validate transactions from its own database.
The proof of stake consensus is arguably more applicable for business use. This is in line with the idea that Qtum improves current blockchain technologies, making it more attractive to enterprises.
Users have the ability to create their own tokens and automate agreements within a stable infrastructure. The expanding smart contract library promises instant accessibility. Users should be able to choose from off the shelf agreements for supply chain management and social networking, to name just a few. In fact, the advantages of smart contracting can be applied to virtually all industries.
On top of that, Qtum is committed to implementing tools, templates and other contract options that will make it simpler for businesses to develop and execute smart contracts. For example, they have added to bitcoin’s blockchain allowing ethereum’s virtual machine for smart contracts to run alongside bitcoin.
Mobile Capabilities
One obstacle to the wider adoption of smart contract-based apps is the limitations in terms of management by light clients. Light clients are nodes on the blockchain network that do not keep a complete history of the blockchain. They simply track back to several of the most recent blocks in order to verify transactions.
In the past building, deploying and changing smart contracts meant you needed to run a full node of the network. So if you had a slow connection, low storage or used a mobile device, smart contracts simply weren’t available.
However, Qtum uses UTXO technology to facilitate simple payment verification (SPV). As a result, with just a few swipes of your mobile device, smart contracts can be executed.
This is another component which has helped drive growth since the launch and a capability that many competitors simply do not offer.
Key Details
Before you start thinking about technical analysis and whether you should buy or sell, you need to know a few key details, including:
- Block size is 2MB
- Block time is 120 seconds
- Inflation POS is around 1%
- Although the top cryptocurrency token holders own around 90% of the max supply, 100 million coins in total will be released
- Initial ICO price was just $0.30, meaning anyone who bought then would now see a return of over 40X
Benefits
There are a number of factors pushing up Qtum’s cryptocurrency value and market capitalisation, including:
- Transparency – Their Medium Blog posts weekly community and development updates. Information from the CEO’s visit to an Internet Governance Forum in Geneva was shared, for example. Details of an ICO, Vevue, that was to take place on their platform were also posted. This transparency helps build trust which pushes up value.
- Compatibility – Because ethereum virtual machine is used, ethereum contracts can also run on Qtum, requiring only minor alterations.
- No cryptocurrency mining – As a result of proof of staking, you have no mining software and pool.
- No masternodes – There are no masternodes. Anyone with coins can run a node, create a new blockchain and benefit from block rewards.
- Regulatory compliance – Qtum have enlisted PwC advisors to assist them with regulatory compliance and accounting. This will ensure they are in a strong position to enter into the business side of smart contracts.
- Cryptocurrency home – By utilising the best aspects of bitcoin and ethereum, cryptocurrency explorers could finally have a universal platform they can call home.
- Transaction times – Qtum promises 60-70 transactions per second (TPS) for the mainnet, over double that of ethereum.
- Volatility – While high levels of volatility come with significant risks, they also ensure the potential of financial rewards for the switched on day trader.
All these factors may lead to substantial growth in the near future, particularly in Asia.
Drawbacks
Before you decide Qtum cryptocurrency is definitely a good investment, there are certain drawbacks worth considering, including:
- Limitations – Reports show the UTXO model smart contracts are built on may have significant limitations. If this opinion spreads, prices may start going down.
- Trust – Allegations of fraud have been levelled against Steven Dai. It has been suggested he stole 200 BTC when he worked at BitBay, under the name of Patrick Dai. This alleged founder scam and other negative recent news could seriously damage the company’s credibility and may see prices start falling.
- Pump and dumps – With so much interest in cryptocurrencies, it’s hard to protect and against pump and dumps. So while Qtum may be undervalued, there is also a chance of prices being artificially pushed up.
- Unpredictability – Despite promising 2023 forecasts and roadmaps, cryptocurrencies by their very nature are volatile. You simply cannot tell whether Qtum’s price will drop significantly or rise rapidly. For example, some major cryptocurrencies dropped by 40% in January 2018.
Resources
If you are thinking about day trading with Qtum, you will need to stay aware of upcoming news and absorb as much information as possible. To do that, you may want to consider using Qtum’s official website and FAQ page, Qtum Telegram, Qtum Github, Qtum Forum and Qtum Slack.
The resources above can you give you information on everything from fees and potential scalability to exchange tips and cryptocurrency profit calculators.
You may also want to consider using outside resources, such as Yahoo Finance and more general cryptocurrency news sources. These can keep you up to date with:
- Token swaps
- Live price graphs
- Upcoming events
- Free growth charts
- Real-time price quotes
- Free strategy downloads
- Specific project overviews
- The meaning and implications of latest altcoin news
- Details of a number of ETFs being introduced in 2023
- Trading guides for making the most of your Qtum stock
- All time highest prices along with detailed insights and evaluation
In addition, there are a number of free staking calculators available online. A quick calculation using network weight amongst other factors will give you accurate results.
How to Buy Qtum
Before you can start day trading with Qtum, you will need to purchase coins. Fortunately, in terms of where to buy this cryptocurrency, all the following exchanges are options:
- Jubi
- BTC9
- Liqui
- BTER
- COSS
- Bittrex
- Allcoin
- CHBTC
- HitBTC
- Binance
- Coinone
- Yuanbao
- Biduobao
- Cryptopia
- Novaexchange
Alternatively, you can buy BTC cryptocurrency on Coinbase and then trade BTC with the above exchanges for Qtum.
You will also need to store your Qtum cryptocurrency securely. You can now get hardware wallets, offline paper wallets or mobile, iPhone and Android wallets. All will keep your Qtum secure and accessible for when you want to trade.
What’s Next for Qtum?
A Qtum future price prediction for 2023 looks promising. They have secured partnership deals with Starbucks already. Qtum and China’s 360 financial partnership to build a blockchain research lab is also close to fruition.
In addition, they are in the process of securing agreements with a number of other important companies. If they succeed in doing so, they may emerge as a central hub for blockchain and cryptocurrency development going forward.
Having said that, until it has won the backing of these major companies, expected price forecasts and long-term outlooks will be nothing more than predictions.
For further guidance on how to join the crypto rich list and other coin reviews, see our cryptocurrency page.