When was Qtum created?
Qtum is a Singapore-based project founded by Patrick Dai in March 2016. It completed its ICO in March 2017, raising $15.6 million in 117 hours. On September 13, 2017, the Qtum mainnet was launched, and users had to swap their Qtum ERC20 tokens for the newly released Qtum Ignition Tokens on the independent Qtum blockchain.
The Qtum value proposition
Revolutions come from combining what exists into what has never existed before, which is the inspiration behind Qtum. The project is trying to improve the existing blockchain technology. Basically, it allows the Ethereum Virtual Machine to work on the entire Bitcoin ecosystem.
Qtum implements the advantages of Bitcoin and Ethereum in order to build a hybrid, industry-oriented decentralized applications platform. Its main goal is throw a bridge between the blockchain world and the real world. As of August 2018, more than 50 decentralized applications have been built on the platform.
Qtum believes that its team is one of its key advantages over similar blockchain projects. It states that it currently has over 150 developers contributing to the project and over 2.5 million coin holders.
Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO)
Qtum is intended to be something like a mediator between Bitcoin and Ethereum. It uses the Bitcoin Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) model as its core infrastructure. The main reason is to be Bitcoin process-compatible, meaning that when BTC announces an upgrade to its network (like the Lighting Network), it will be easier for Qtum to adopt it.
A really simplified explanation of how a Bitcoin transaction works will make it easier to understand how the UTXO model works.
Let’s say John has 5 BTC and wants to send 2 BTC to Anna. When he makes the transaction, his wallet creates four outputs. The first output is with 1 BTC, and the receiver is Anna.
The other three outputs are with 1.5 BTC, 0.5 BTC, and 1 BTC. Those three are unspent transaction outputs. Then, they return to John’s wallet and become unspent inputs, and he now has change of 3 BTC in three different inputs. Think of it like having $3 in the wallet in your pocket - you can’t have them in one bill.
Let’s say three days later John wants to send 2 BTC to Maria. His wallet then creates the same three unspent inputs as outputs.
The unspent inputs of 1.5 BTC and 0.5 BTC become spent outputs that go to Maria’s wallet. The third unspent input of 1 BTC becomes an unspent output. It is what remains in John’s wallet. When the unspent output of 1 BTC returns to his wallet, it becomes an unspent input ready for the next transaction.
This is how the UTXO model works. Its key advantages are...
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
