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Articles and commentary from the Qtum team.
Qtum 7th Anniversary Updates
September 13th, 2017 - 2024
Instead of discussing the last 7 years of Qtum, we wanted to focus on the first half of 2024 to give an update on what we’ve been up to and what to expect very soon. This year has seen an uptick in development, where we’re setting the stage for ecosystem expansion and AI tools.
We have undertaken 2 audits so far for the bridge to Ethereum and MetaMask Snap. We have launched an AI chatbot and image generator, powered by thousands of Nvidia 3080 GPUs. Our AI team is working on a “text-to-voice” application, and we plan to start launching APIs that the public can use to “pay” with Qtum for accessing the GPUs. All of this happened in the first half of 2024, and we’d like to explain why.
It took us a while to regain our footing, we acknowledge and apologize for the last few years. Completely exiting China in 2019 was a difficult transition. We made some mistakes over the years, like bringing in expensive outside management.
We realized that it was our core team that brought value to Qtum in the beginning, and we’ve since returned to that core team.
Another mistake we made was relying too heavily on partnerships and other BD initiatives that didn’t bear fruit. There were times when we’d be talking to stablecoin issuers for 2 years, only to have their BD rep leave and be replaced with someone who didn’t care about our project, and we’d be left with nothing.
A lot of this happened because we hired expensive executives who came from traditional business backgrounds in the USA and EU, and they had no idea how blockchain worked. Their plans typically involved just spending money at tradeshows, and flying around to meet with each other.
That era is over, it ended when 2024 began. Expect to see the older Qtum team members more heavily involved in the development cycle and decision-making. Instead of saying “Soon” we’d like to present to you what we’ve done in the first half of 2024. We built a “2024 report card” for you to research, which we thought would be a lot better than going through 7 years of history.
Qtum Core
Qtum Core is the layer 1 blockchain which everything is built upon. Since June 2017, there have been 48 GitHub releases. Each release consists of multiple patches and updates, along with other new features. Qtum Core is currently version 25.1 in production, version 26.1 is in testing, and version 27.1 is being developed.
Recent Releases
These releases can be seen on our Github profile:
https://github.com/qtumproject/qtum/releases
Qtum Core version 27.1 Commits:
Commits · qtumproject/qtum · GitHub
Qtum Core version 26.1 Commits:
https://github.com/qtumproject/qtum/commits/time/core26
All Qtum Core Commits:
Commits · qtumproject/qtum · GitHub
What is Qtum Core?
Qtum Core is a UTXO blockchain based on Bitcoin Core but with staking instead of Proof-of-Work. It uses an “Account Abstraction Layer” to deploy the Ethereum Virtual Machine. It is a permissionless blockchain, meaning anyone can operate a validator node just like Bitcoin. There’s no need for token ownership or any form of delegation.
In a completely decentralized method, the block target (estimated time between blocks) is 32 seconds, and the block size can vary from 2000kb to 8000kb.
Qtum Core makes use of various “Bitcoin Improvement Proposals” like SegWit and Taproot and Pay2SH etc, but also maintains the latest version of the “Shanghai EVM”. Testing for Qtum Core version 27.1 is underway to integrate the Ethereum “Dencun” update.
Since the main network launched in September 2017, Qtum Core has seen 48 GitHub updates. These updates are typically “upstream,” meaning they are merged updates provided by the Bitcoin and Ethereum teams. The benefit of this is not having to duplicate code to achieve the same results.
Recent Releases:
March 4th, 2024
Qtum Core v25.1 - Upgrade to bitcoin core v25.1 - Ledger Improvements - Bug fixes Latest
v25.1 - Upgrade to bitcoin core v25.1 - Ledger Improvements - Bug fixes.
Upgrade Qtum core to bitcoin core 25.1 including updates from 25.0 and 25.1.
Improve Ledger devices GUI support :
Support staking delegation.
Support QRC20 transactions.
Add support for on-device address verification.
Add support message signing.
Fix a bug that caused validateaddress rpc call to fail in some rare cases.
September 1st, 2023
v24.1 – Hard Fork - Mandatory Update before block 3385122 (3298892 in testnet) – Upgrade to bitcoin core 24.1 - EVM Shanghai - Improvements and Bug fixes.
Upgrade Qtum core to bitcoin core 24.1 including updates from 24.0.1 and 0.24.1. Main highlights:
Add sendall, simulaterawtransaction, gettxspendingprevout rpc calls.
Support multi_a() and sortedmulti_a() in tr() output descriptor .
Add wallet migration support from legacy to descriptor wallets using migratewallet rpc call.
Improve headers download security.
Improve replace-by-fee logic.
Improve GUI options.
Implement Shanghai EVM upgrade. Main highlights:
Add PUSH0 instruction support.
Add Limit and meter initcode support.
Deprecate SELFDESTRUCT.
Set chainID to:
81 for mainnet
8889 for testnet
8890 for regtest
Dispaly coinstake prevout when calling getblock with verbosity level 3.
Update nMinimumChainWork, defaultAssumeValid and chainTxData.
Add recent checkpoints.
Upcoming Releases:
We are currently testing Qtum Core version 26.1, which will be released in late 2024.
Qtum Core version 27.1 is currently being developed, with no ETA for release.
1. Integrating Bitcoin Core 26.1 into Qtum Core: bitcoin/doc/release-notes/release-notes-26.1.md at master · bitcoin/bitcoin · GitHub
2. Integrating Bitcoin Core 27.0 into Qtum Core: bitcoin/doc/release-notes/release-notes-27.0.md at master · bitcoin/bitcoin · GitHub
3. Merging Ethereum “Dencun” update onto Qtum Core “Account Abstraction Layer”:
Cancun-Deneb (Dencun) FAQ | ethereum.org
Qtum Ecosystem
Qtum’s Road map link: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/qtum/
Qtum Website: Qtum 2024 Roadmap
Qtum Ecosystem Purpose and Goals
Our goal in the first half of 2024 was to deploy the infrastructure needed for developers to build or integrate Web3 utilities. This includes a bridge between Qtum and Ethereum that will allow the Circle USDC Stablecoin to move between blockchains.
As of July 16th, all of the code required to deploy this bridge has been developed and submitted for audit. We received feedback from Certik that our core bridge software had no critical issues, but some moderate issues were raised, mostly centered around how the validator nodes manage the multi-sig wallet.
Our response to Certik was accepted, and full details will be provided in the audit report found here: Qtum - CertiK Skynet Project Insight. The majority of the work required has been finished, but we’re behind by about 2 months currently deploying the mainnet bridge. Currently, we have an internal-facing test network, and we plan to have this public-facing by September 2024.
We also planned to integrate the “BRC-20” token standard that is popular on Bitcoin into the Qtum blockchain. As of July 16th, we’ve managed to build and deploy a test version of the qBRC-20 token standard: QBRC20 (qtum.info)
Qtum Ecosystem 2024 Progress Report Links
Qtum’s 2024 roadmap was launched on February 1st, 2024, and was expected to take 6 months to complete. So far this year, we’ve provided multiple progress updates on our socials and website.
MetaMask Snap Update:
The Qtum Metamask Snap is Coming
August Updates:
August 2024 Qtum Development and Community Updates
July Updates:
July 2024 Development and Community Updates (qtum.org)
Here’s our latest ecosystem update link from June 2024:
June 2024 Qtum Development and Community Updates
Here are some earlier ecosystem updates from 2024:
May 2024 Qtum Development and Community Updates
Preparing for Bridged USDC on Qtum
April 2024 Qtum Development and Artificial Intelligence Updates
March 2024 Qtum Development and Community Updates
February 2024 Qtum Development and Community Updates
Qtum Bridge
We are working on a bridge that will allow Circle USDC and other Ethereum ERC-20 assets to be bridged to the Qtum blockchain. For more information on this initiative, please see Circle's blog post: Bridged USDC Standard | Circle.
This infrastructure includes bridge validators and a web front-end that interfaces with a Qtum-designed "MetaMask Snap." Our goal with the MetaMask Snap is to have the wallet included in the "Snap Directory": MetaMask Snaps Directory.
This MetaMask Snap acts as an extension of the main MetaMask wallet. If you currently use MetaMask and want it to support and store Qtum, you only have to enable the "Snap" from the Snap Directory.
The Circle “Bridged USDC Standard” is the proper way to do wrapped stablecoins across blockchains. By using Circle-provided infrastructure, it’s possible to “burn and mint” USDC between blockchains, which prevents the need for having liquidity pools on either side of the blockchain, and allows the end user to feel confident that the code was provided by Circle.
Code Audits
The Certik audit has been submitted to the Qtum team, and the results have been made public.
Two code audits related to the Qtum Bridge have been started in 2024
#1, Certik Audit for the Qtum Bridge: Qtum - CertiK Skynet Project Insight
#2 Sayfer audit for the Qtum MetaMask Snap Wallet: https://sayfer.io/audits/metamask-snap-audit-report-for-qtum/
Qtum Bridge Remaining ToDo's
Some core infrastructure work (Servers, SSL, domain names, easy stuff).
Updated documentation, user guides, videos, etc.
Updated Graphics for the bridge interface.
Launch a public-facing bridge test network and hold a community event for load testing and community feedback.
Await review of the MetaMask Snap by Consensys for listing in the “Snap Directory” MetaMask Snaps Directory. This is ongoing as of September 12th, 2024 and the Qtum Team has been in communication with Consensys recently to address some questions.
BRC-20 and Ordinals Support
Minting NFTs on Qtum has always been possible because we support established token standards like ERC-721 and ERC-1155 on the smart contract EVM layer. For 2024 we are building a set of tools to support a Qtum implementation of BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals.
An indexer and blockchain explorer that can interact with Ordinals.
A web-based front end that makes it easier for users to inscribe without having to use a command-line interface in a wallet. The Alpha version is here: QBRC20 (qtum.info). This front end allows users to create a QBRC-20 asset on Qtum, just like on Bitcoin.
The Qtum development team will research and compare ERC-20 and BRC-20 on the same chain to see what strengths and weaknesses each token standard brings when operating on the same blockchain. We may be the only project able to do this research.
Qtum Artificial Intelligence
Qtum AI roadmap: https://qtum.ai/
Qtum Qurator and Qtum Solstice
In May, the Qtum development made a move into the AI ecosystem, onlining 10,000 GPUs to power an AI image generator called "Qtum Qurator" and an AI chatbot called "Qtum Solstice." Both of these products are based on open-source models and are the debut product offerings found on the Qtum AI website. For more information, view our product information section.
Qtum AI Press Release and Media Coverage:
Qtum Foundation Onlines 10,000 GPUs to Power Blockchain AI Ecosystem
Web3 Meets AI: Blockchain Technology Revolutionizes The AI Landscape (forbes.com)
Qtum Foundation powers AI Web3 initiatives with 10,000 Nvidia GPUs | VentureBeat
Qtum plans
Qtum Core Plans for Q3 & Q4, 2024
Most or all of these items build off the Q1 & Q2 plans, so there is repetition in this section:
Qtum develops multiple sections of a greater roadmap in parallel. These sections include:
1, Qtum Core (The Blockchain)
2, Qtum Ecosystem (Web3 / DeFi / Bridge / etc)
3, Qtum Artificial Intelligence
Qtum Core is an ongoing development project which started in 2016. Because Qtum Core is part of the UTXO family of blockchains, it’s possible to develop “upstream” with Bitcoin by merging new releases of Bitcoin Core into Qtum Core.
Qtum is also a smart contract blockchain that uses an “Account Abstraction Layer” to host the Ethereum Virtual Machine on top of a UTXO staking blockchain. This also allows Qtum to blend in the latest EVM updates onto Qtum.
There are even UTXO Ecosystem/Core updates like the BRC-20 Token Standard which can be loaded on top of Qtum Core, which has more to do with ecosystem development but requires collaboration with the Ecosystem and Core teams to make it work.
Q3 & Q4 will see the release of Qtum Core 26.1, which has been completed and is currently being tested. This update brings Qtum up to the latest Bitcoin Core. Qtum Core 26.1 had its first Github commit on February 28th, 2024 and all other commits can be seen here:
Commits · qtumproject/qtum · GitHub
We likely will release 26.1 in Q4, 2024.
The Qtum Core Team is also working to integrate the Ethereum “Dencun” update, which will make up the bulk of Qtum Core 27.1, and there’s currently no estimated release date for 27.1. This update is still in progress; we hope to have this out by Q2 2025.
You can view the Github commits for 27.1 here:
Commits · qtumproject/qtum · GitHub
Qtum Ecosystem Plans for Q3 & Q4, 2024
Certik Audit for Qtum Bridge: https://skynet.certik.com/projects/qtum
Sayfer Audit for MetaMask Snap: https://sayfer.io/audits/metamask-snap-audit-report-for-qtum/
Qtum’s Ecosystem roadmap for Q1 & Q2 got delayed due to the introduction of the AI roadmap in Q2, along with some audit fixes that Certik required in March for the bridge. The final MetaMask Snap audit just got returned to Qtum. With all of the audits complete, we can now focus on rolling out the bridge section of the Ecosystem Roadmap. We expect this to take about 6 weeks, which will put us well into Q3. We expect the Qtum Bridge, bundled with Circle’s USDC Stablecoin, to bring a higher level of activity to the Qtum blockchain due to the fact that there are no other Qtum/Stablecoin liquidity pools available on any DEX or CEX.
The Qtum QBRC-20 test deployment was rolled out on time and is currently being reviewed by our Ecosystem team. We plan to bring this to mainnet by end Q3 2024
QBRC-20 Git commits: https://github.com/qtumproject/qtum-brc20-fe
QBRC-20 Indexer commits: GitHub - qtumproject/qtum-brc20-indexer
Moving Forward into Q4 we will continue to work on the existing AI roadmap we published in March 2024, as well as some new additions we will add once the bridge is delivered.
Qtum Artificial Intelligence Plans for Q3 & Q4, 2024
The Qtum AI initiative was not pre-announced to the community when we released Qtum Qurator and Qtum Solstice in Q2, 2024. We wanted to ensure we could get embargoed press coverage and we managed to land a VentureBeat exclusive that was published 2 hours before our press release went out:
Qtum Foundation powers AI Web3 initiatives with 10,000 Nvidia GPUs | VentureBeat
Qtum.ai Press Release:
Qtum Foundation Onlines 10,000 GPUs to Power Blockchain AI Ecosystem (yahoo.com)
Once the Bridge portion of the Qtum Ecosystem roadmap is fully delivered, the majority of our focus in Q3 & Q4 will be to fulfill the Qtum.ai roadmap we published in Q2
The Qtum AI roadmap launched in Q2, 2024 and takes us well into 2025.
You can see Qtum Co-Founder, Miguel Palencia, discussing this roadmap on VentureBeat.com on April 18th, 2024:
For Qtum, artificial intelligence is the logical next step in light of its foray into Web3.
“We have ambitious goals for AI, which will require a 3-stage rollout plan,” Palencia said. “Today, we are unveiling stage 1, which is the chatbot and image generator. The next two stages will include the modeling layer and finally the decentralized economy layer, which will blend everything together on the Qtum blockchain.”
Immediately following the first stage of deployment of Solace and Qurator, the Qtum Foundation will begin work to improve the underlying technology of the product offerings. Qtum developers have followed AI closely since even before the debut of ChatGBT, and have acquired technical expertise in four areas.
These include intelligent dialogue, which includes knowledge-based question-and-answer systems, text-based games, etc. It also includes speech generation, with text-to-speech, speech-to-text, cross-language conversations, and other emerging fields.
Source: Qtum Foundation powers AI Web3 initiatives with 10,000 Nvidia GPUs | VentureBeat
The Qtum Team has additional plans for development that we haven’t published to the community for Q3 & Q4 but will certainly take us into 2025:
1. Qtum AI API work begins in September 2024.
2. Qtum Text-to-Voice AI application launches in Sept/Oct 2024.
3. Qtum BRC20 mainnet goes live in November 2024.
4. Qtum GPU cloud service development starts in February 2025.
5. Qtum native stablecoin planning starts in April 2025.
6. Follow and merge all Bitcoin Core and EVM updates into Qtum. Ongoing 2024+
We plan to announce these additions once we fully deploy the Qtum Bridge.
Warm Regards, The Qtum Team.
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