Quant Network Review: The Interoperable Blockchain OS

Spoiler alert: there is no one blockchain that will rule them all. Different use-cases require different blockchains. This means that interoperability between these blockchains is going to be critical as time goes on. While many cryptocurrency projects including Band Protocol and NEAR Protocol are already tackling the interoperability issue, Quant Network is doing it in a completely different way.

In contrast to other cryptocurrency projects, Quant Network does not want to make things more complicated by making their own interoperable blockchain that plugs into others. They are building an interoperable blockchain operating system that will sit on top of other blockchains. This will give both individuals and institutions the intuitive platform they need to actualize the potential of blockchain tech.

A brief history of Quant Network

Quant Network begins with a man named Gilbert Verdian. Like the other juggernauts who have built promising cryptocurrency projects, Gilbert is no ordinary man. His experience and the connections he has built with institutions in both the public and private sector are arguably unmatched by anyone else in the crypto space.

Gilbert first heard about Bitcoin in 2009, and during his impressive career he has been religiously pushing for his employers to adopt blockchain technologies. He did not just do this as some regular employee either. Gilbert has held prestigious positions at companies like Ernst & Young, HSBC, BP Oil, and Price Waterhouse Coopers.

If that was not impressive enough, his public sector experience includes working with Her Majesty’s Treasury, the UK Ministry of Justice, the Bank of England, and even the Federal Reserve. In 2015, Gilbert helped found the Blockchain ISO Standard TC307 which is now used by almost 60 countries around the world to guide their blockchain development.

Around that time, Gilbert began laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the Quant Network. In December 2017, the Quant Network was officially announced. Its mission was (and still is) to solve all the blockchain woes Gilbert saw firsthand during his time at these prestigious institutions. All these issues were fundamentally related interoperability, which is what Quant Network hopes to solve.

What is Quant Network?

Quant Network is a blockchain technology company looking to achieve universal interoperability between blockchains using its Overledger OS blockchain operating system. In contrast to other cryptocurrency projects, Quant Network is not open source and much of the technology used in its products is patented, requiring licensing to use.

Although Quant Network focuses more on enterprise blockchain services, it is also looking to integrate multiple cryptocurrency blockchains into its Overledger Network. At the time of writing, Quant Network supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Binance Chain, Stellar, EOS, IOTA, and Constellation. It also supports JP Morgan’s Quorum blockchain, the R3 Corda blockchain, and the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.

How does Quant Network work?

Since Quant Network is closed source project, it does not share the details of how its core technologies function. The most important thing to keep in mind is that Quant Network is not a blockchain.

It is an ecosystem consisting of various components including the Overledger OS blockchain operating system, multi-chain apps (mApps), the Overledger Network, the Overledger Network Marketplace, the Treasury, and the QNT token (which will be discussed in the next section).

The Overledger OS

Overledger OS is an interoperable blockchain operating system. In other words, it allows those using the Overledger OS to interact with multiple different blockchains simultaneously. The Overledger OS is intended to be the Windows or macOS of the future network of blockchains.

While Quant Network does not give a detailed explanation of how their Overledger OS works, their FAQ page states that it is based off Google’s open source Kubernetes technology. Without getting too detailed, Kubernetes makes it possible for an app to support thousands of users without being overwhelmed (e.g. crashing). It does this by automatically fixing any errors using a network of nodes.

Like many other software programs, the Overledger OS is not free to use. Both individuals and institutions must pay an annual licensing fee to use the Overledger OS. This fee is fixed for individuals and varies for institutions depending on a number of metrics including the size of their company. Paying this license allows them to create multi-chain apps (or mApps) using the Overledger OS.

Multi-Chain Applications (mApps)

Multi-chain applications (mApps) are self-explanatory – they are applications built on top of multiple blockchains. This is contrast to regular decentralized applications (dApps) which are built on a single blockchain, usually Ethereum. Each mApp is made up of Treaty Contracts – advanced programs which allow multiple smart contracts on different blockchains to work together.

Since mApps are built on multiple blockchains, their speed and efficiency is dependent on the underlying blockchains being used. For example, if you build a mApp using Ethereum and Solana, the part of the application built on Ethereum would only be able to handle 15 transactions per second whereas the other part would have a speed of nearly 65 000 transactions per second.

The idea is that both individuals and institutions will be able to leverage the best parts of each blockchain in the mApps they build. For example, they could use the speed of Solana blockchain to handle transactions and use the security of the Bitcoin blockchain to settle payments in their mApp. Individuals and institutions can also choose to sell their mApps and their data on the Overledger Network Marketplace.

The Overledger Network

The Overledger Network consists of the various parties building on the Overledger OS operating system. The Overledger Network makes it possible for these parties to buy and sell data and digital applications using the Overledger Network Marketplace.

All transactions on the Overledger Network Marketplace are conducted using the Treasury, a series of smart contracts build on Ethereum. The Treasury acts as a third party to all transactions and takes a small cut which goes to the Quant Network.

The Treasury also custodies the QNT tokens required to pay the annual licensing fees for the Overledger OS. It then sells those tokens at the current market price at the end of the contract. Although all transactions within the Quant Network are made using QNT, everything is priced in US dollars. The amount of QNT tokens required for a particular transaction is determined by an in-house price oracle.

QNT Cryptocurrency

QNT is an ERC-20 token used to pay for goods, services, and licensing fees in the Quant Network ecosystem. Following a token burn in September 2018, the maximum supply of QNT is just over 14.5 million. QNT is neither inflationary nor deflationary.

Roughly 4.5 million tokens have been allocated to the Quant Network, whereas the remaining 10 million tokens are on the market. Quant Network appears to have sold some of their tokens since the 2018 burn, as there is around 12 million QNT currently in circulation.

It is important to note that this new supply is not reflected on Etherscan. However, as per the Medium post explaining the burn, Etherscan has added a note in the Info tab for the QNT token reflecting its correct supply. The large amount of tokens held in the Quant Network smart contract address are those that were burned.

Quant Network ICO

Quant Network held the ICO for its QNT token in May of 2018. At the time, QNT had a maximum supply just short of 45.5 million tokens. Just over 30% of this supply had been allocated to the Quant Network, and the remaining 70% was intended to be sold during the ICO and presale.

The QNT ICO seems to have fallen flat, raising just 11 million USD. This was substantially less than its soft cap of around 16 million USD, and almost 4x less than the hard cap of 40 million USD. Given that the ICO price of QNT was around 1.1$USD, this equates to roughly 10 million tokens sold. This confirms the amount in circulation after the 2018 burn which took place just 4 months after the ICO.

QNT Cryptocurrency Price Analysis

The QNT token has a remarkable price history compared to other cryptocurrencies. Ever since trading for QNT began in August 2018 (due to a 2-month token lock-up after the ICO), its price has been in a very visible uptrend.

After crashing down to nearly 1.50$USD per token during the flash crash in March, QNT has since recovered. It has even managed to surpass its previous high of 12$USD with a price of nearly 16$ in late October this year. Recent price action remains extremely bullish, but this could be due to market manipulation.

QNT Exchange Listings

QNT is not offered on very many reputable exchanges. If you are looking to bag some QNT tokens, your options are essentially limited to Bittrex, Uniswap, or Bithumb. Note that if you decide to use Uniswap you may pay a handsome price in gas fees to execute the trade since it is a DEX built on Ethereum.

Liquidity is not very good on these exchanges either, meaning you might need to pay a premium if you are looking to buy a lot of QNT. Be sure to stay away from the exchanges with the highest trading volume here – Bilaxy and Fatbtc are known to engage in wash trading and other bad practices.

QNT Cryptocurrency Wallets

Since QNT is an ERC-20 token, it can be stored on just about any cryptocurrency wallet that supports Ethereum. If you prefer having your tokens handy, the Atomic Wallet or Exodus Wallet are probably the best options for you. Both are offered on mobile and desktop and are loaded with a bunch of cool features.

If you plan on holding on to your QNT for some time, consider getting your hands on a hardware wallet like a Trezor or a Ledger device. While these can be pricey, they are your best way of ensuring your funds stay secure. Never leave your crypto on an exchange, especially not on the sort of shady exchanges that most QNT tokens are apparently being traded on!

Quant Network Roadmap

Quant Network does not appear to have a roadmap at the moment. Their older roadmap shown below outlines many milestones, most of which do not seem to have been reached. This is probable due to their lackluster ICO, which likely did not raise enough money to fuel any serious development on the project.

Luckily, in July of this year it was announced that Quant Network had received an undisclosed amount of funding from Alpha Sigma Capital. This seems to have done the trick as the Quant Network is finally in the stages of beta testing its various technologies.

Quant Network’s long-term vision is essentially to be the Apple or Microsoft of blockchain. Indeed, they do not exactly conduct themselves like another cryptocurrency project and probably share more in common with Silicon Valley tech giants.

It is also worth noting that Quant Network apparently did not initially have plans to launch a token. This was revealed during an earlier interview with Quant Network CEO Gilbert Verdian. However, not only is there now a QNT token, but Quant Network is playing with the idea of offering QNT token staking in the future.

Gilbert Verdian seems to have been focusing on leveraging his existing connections in the private and public sector. His tweets suggest that he is looking to provide the Overledger OS as the interoperability solution to governments and central banks which are currently developing their CBDCs on various blockchains.

Our Opinion on Quant Network

Quant Network is an ambitious project which seems to have experienced more than its fair share of setbacks. This is probably because the project was launched during the last cryptocurrency bull market. It is not very likely that people were paying attention to the project while Bitcoin was going parabolic. They were also probably not too keen on investing in it when markets crashed in the spring of 2018.

Now that they have received a second wind of funding, Quant Nework seems to be back on track. The question is whether they can develop their Overledger OS to the degree necessary to lock down some public and private contracts. On the bright side, Quant Network does not seem to have very much competition. This might be a testament to the impossibility of their goal, however.

The most concerning question is what will happen to the QNT token in the future. It seems to be a temporary crutch to bring in attention to the Quant Network. Once the Overledger OS starts achieving mainstream adoption, would anyone be willing to go digging into those sketchy exchanges to get the QNT they need to pay for licensing fees and services? Or will they demand to use fiat currency instead?

This is something to keep in mind for anyone who is invested in the project. QNT may be looking hot right now, but common sense suggests this cryptocurrency token is not going to age well as time goes on. In any case, Quant Network seems to have the connections and the capital necessary to actualize their Overledger OS vision. We will have to wait and see what it will mean for the QNT token.