What is cryptocurrency QuarkChain (QKC) and how does it work?

What Is QuarkChain (QKC)?

QuarkChain is an innovative permissionless blockchain architecture that uses blockchain sharding technology to provide an infrastructure which is scalable, flexible, and user-oriented. The project aims to meet the global commercial standard by providing a public chain which delivers at least 100,000 transactions per second on-chain. Its scale, speed, and affordability make QuarkChain suitable for a range of applications, including payment, high-frequency trading, gaming, internet of things, and distributed social media.

What Is the Blockchain Trilemma?

A term coined by Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin, The Blockchain Trilemma proposes that the three most important features of a blockchain, namely decentralization, security, and scalability, are impossible to achieve at the same time. That is to say, blockchains must make trade-offs and sacrifice one quality in order to achieve the other two. However, QuarkChain has accomplished massive scalability while remaining secure and decentralized through the use of advanced sharding technology in its two-layered blockchain.

How Does QuarkChain Work?

Each block within a chain performs two basic functionalities. Firstly, transactions must be performed and recorded on the ledger, which requires a lot of data. Secondly, the results of transactions from the ledger must be confirmed and the block must be mined to provide the necessary difficulty to make an attack economically inefficient. On the QuarkChain Network, these functions are divided into two separate layers. A series of minor blockchains, called shards, each process a subset of all transactions. The network also contains a root blockchain which confirms the transactions without processing them. Reverting transactions on the root blockchain would not be economically efficient, which provides security. Meanwhile, more shards can be added quickly and easily to process more transactions, providing scalability.

Collaborative Mining

On top of security and scalability, QuarkChain achieves decentralization through collaborative mining. Miners can choose whether to mine in shards or the root chain and can do so directly without joining mining pools. The aim of this system is to create incentive mechanisms and difficulty algorithms to ensure that hash powers are evenly distributed among shards.

Who Are the Founders of QuarkChain? (History of QuarkChain)

QuarkChain was founded in 2018 by its CEO Qi Zhou. After gaining a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Zhou worked as a software engineer at Google, Dell EMC, and Facebook before founding QuarkChain.

QuarkChain’s testnet and QPocket wallet were released in 2018, as was the QKC utility token which was initially distributed as an ERC-20 token. The QuarkChain mainnet launched in 2019, after which a token swap was enabled so that ERC-20 QKC could be converted to native QuarkChain mainnet QKC and vice versa. Staking was introduced in 2020 and the QuarkChain mainnet 2.0, dubbed BigBang, launched in 2021.

QuarkChain QKC

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What Makes QuarkChain Unique?

The Blockchain Trilemma has long been seen as an obstacle to the mass adoption of crypto, but QuarkChain claims to have solved it through the network’s innovative two-layered, sharding-based architecture. What’s more, the network is flexible: it can meet the needs of a range of applications and industries as the blockchain can support multiple ledgers, transaction models, token economics, and consensuses within the same network. QuarkChain also uses a unique consensus mechanism which is a combination of Proof of Work and Proof of Stake.

What Gives QuarkChain Value?

The value of the QuarkChain Network is derived from its high levels of scalability, flexibility, and usability. The network supports smart contracts via the Ethereum virtual machine, which means that decentralized applications on Ethereum can easily be deployed to QuarkChain. As Ethereum struggles to achieve a high enough throughput leading to significant gas fees, QuarkChain could potentially see increased adoption as EVM-based dApps migrate to its more scalable network.

The QKC utility token has a finite total supply, which could potentially make it a good store of value in the long term. The token derives further value from its utility. QKC is the unit of exchange between QuarkChain Network participants and is required to pay transaction fees. It is therefore likely that QKC will accrue more value as the QuarkChain Network expands and gains more dApps and users.

How Many QuarkChain (QKC) Coins Are in Circulation?

There are currently QKC in the circulating supply out of a total of . Out of the total supply of QKC, 15% was allocated to the team, 15% to the Foundation, 10% to advisors and marketing, and about 17.8% were sold to private investors. Most of these tokens were initially subject to a two-year lock-up period followed by linear release, but the timeline was accelerated after a community governance vote and all aforementioned tokens are now in the circulating supply. The other QKC will enter the circulating supply gradually as it is distributed to network participants to incentivize contributions towards the system.

Other Technical Data

A super-full node in the QuarkChain Network is a node that validates all minor blocks and root chain blocks. This would have significant requirements in terms of bandwidth, storage, CPU, and memory for a high-throughput blockchain. For instance, processing 1 million transactions per second with each one being 250 Bytes would require 2 GBps network bandwidth and the traffic would generate about 20 Terabytes of data each day. QuarkChain lowers the barriers to entry by allowing multiple honest nodes to cluster together to form a super-full node. Each individual node then only validates a subset of chains, and if one node crashes, the rest can still fully validate blocks as any two nodes can form another cluster.

How Is the QuarkChain Network Secured?

The hash power of the QuarkChain Network is split between the root chain and the shards. However, at least 50% of it is allocated to the root chain. This means that a malicious miner would need at least 25% of the hash power of the overall network in order to perform an attack, which eliminates the risk of double-spend attacks on QuarkChain.

How To Use QuarkChain

The flexibility of the QuarkChain Network means it has many possible use cases. In particular, the QuarkChain team believes its technology is ideal for artificial intelligence, big data, and internet of things applications. It also has the necessary design and robust infrastructure to support mobile dApps. QuarkChain provides QKC incentives for developers, as well as tools to create an Android-friendly environment. The scalable technology could be used to create blockchain-based gaming, social networks, online storage, and sharing economic platforms.

The native QKC token can be used as a secure and convenient method of payment and settlement between network participants and for paying transaction fees. It is also distributed to the community as incentives to encourage positive contributions towards the system. The ERC-20 QKC token can be traded on external exchanges and used in decentralized finance applications on Ethereum.

How To Choose a QuarkChain Wallet

Native mainnet QKC tokens can be stored in QuarkChain’s own QPocket wallet. ERC-20 QKC tokens can be stored in any wallet that supports Ethereum and the type you choose will likely depend on how much you have to store and what you intend to do with it.

Hardware wallets or cold wallets like Ledger or Trezor provide the most secure option for storing cryptocurrencies with offline storage and backup. However, they can require more technical knowledge and are a more expensive option. As such, they may be better suited to storing larger amounts of QKC for more experienced users.

Software wallets provide another option and are free and easy to use. They are available to download as smartphone or desktop apps and can be custodial or non-custodial. With custodial wallets, the private keys are managed and backed up on your behalf by the service provider. Non-custodial wallets make use of secure elements on your device to store the private keys. While convenient, they are seen as less secure than hardware wallets and may be better suited to smaller amounts of QKC or more novice users.

Online wallets or web wallets are also free and easy to use and accessible from multiple devices using a web browser. They are, however, considered hot wallets and can be less secure than hardware or software alternatives. As you are likely trusting the platform to manage your QKC, you should select a reputable service with a track record in security and custody. As such, they are most suited for holding smaller amounts of cryptocurrencies or for those making more frequent trades.

Kriptomat offers a secure storage solution, allowing you to both store and trade your QKC tokens without hassle. Storing your QKC with Kriptomat provides you with enterprise-grade security and user-friendly functionality.

Buying and selling QKC, or trading it for any other cryptocurrency, is done in mere moments when you choose our secure platform as your storage solution.

QuarkChain Consensus Mechanism

QuarkChain employs a unique consensus algorithm which is a combination of Proof of Work and Proof of Stake, known as Proof of Staked Work. The root chain runs on PoW, which provides the necessary difficulty level to keep the blockchain secure, but a miner must first stake an amount of QKC proportional to the amount of hash power they want to contribute. PoSW thus disincentivizes mining pools as the owner would need to acquire a large stake. It also means that a malicious actor would need to stake a large amount of tokens as well as 51% of the network’s hash power in order to perform a double-spend attack.

Solving the Blockchain Trilemma

The innovative blockchain architecture created by QuarkChain provides a solution to the Blockchain Trilemma by being simultaneously decentralized, scalable, and secure. The two-layered architecture and use of sharding technology create a high transaction throughput which could help QuarkChain in its mission to meet global commercial demand.

QKC is the platform’s utility token and can be used on the QuarkChain blockchain in its native form, as well as traded on external exchanges in its ERC-20 form. Users can swap between the two types of tokens.

The flexibility of the QuarkChain Network means it can support multiple consensuses, transaction models, and token economics within one network – which is also EVM-compatible. The ecosystem could therefore see much growth in the future from the migration of Ethereum dApps, as well as possible use cases in a range of industries including payments, social networks, gaming, and internet of things.

QuarkChain FAQ

What Kinds of Projects Are People Building on QuarkChain?

The QuarkChain ecosystem incorporates dozens of projects, including data and information systems such as TokenInsight, industrial services like Morpheus Labs, trading and lending platforms such as Bixin, and gaming and entertainment projects like PlayTable.

Can Transactions Span Multiple Shards?

Yes. In-shard transactions are the simplest to perform but cross-shard transactions are also possible at any time. They can be confirmed in minutes and their throughput can scale linearly as the number of shards increases.

How To Buy QuarkChain

Buying QKC is as easy as visiting Kriptomat’s how to buy QuarkChain page and choosing your preferred method of payment.

How To Sell QuarkChain

If you already own QKC and hold it in a Kriptomat exchange wallet, you can easily sell it by navigating the interface and choosing your desired payment option.

QuarkChain Price

QuarkChain price is influenced by a lot of the traditional factors such as project news and development details, market sentiment, the flow of cryptocurrency on exchanges, and the economy in general. 

In addition to these, the QuarkChain price is also affected by the number of tokens staked in QuarkChain’s Proof of Staked Work consensus mechanism and the number of projects and users in the QuarkChain ecosystem.

The current QuarkChain price is EUR.

The 24-hour trading volume of QKC is EUR. QuarkChain is currently ranked of all cryptocurrencies by total market cap, with a market cap of EUR. It has a circulating supply of .

Register now to begin your journey into the world of QuarkChain and cryptocurrencies with Kriptomat!

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