How to Buy Qtum (QTUM)
Beginner’s Guide
What Is Qtum (QTUM)?
Qtum (pronounced ‘“quantum”) is a proof-of-stake (PoS) smart contract open-source blockchain platform and value transfer protocol. It aims to bring together the strengths of Bitcoin and Ethereum in one chain. Qtum is built on Bitcoin’s UTXO transaction model, with the added functionality of smart contract execution and DApps. Recently, the platform added support for DeFi applications. As of March 2021, there are more than 20 tokens created on the Qtum blockchain.
To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Qtum.
The project was announced in March 2016 and held an ICO a year after, in March 2017, which brought its founders $15 million USD. The Qtum main chain was released on Sept.13, 2017. Initially, the Qtum coin was issued as a ETH-20 token, but with the launch of the mainnet, it was converted to native blockchain.
How to Buy Qtum Summary
- Get a Qtum wallet (e.g. Ledger, Trezor ,Guardia, Exodus , AtomicWallet)
- Find an exchange that sells Qtum (e.g. Binance, Kucoin, Crypto, GATE, MEXC)
- Deposit money and make the trade
- Withdraw the Qtum to your wallet
Buying Qtum in 3 Simple Steps
Step 1 – Get a Qtum wallet
Qtum (QTUM) Hardware Wallets
Qtum (QTUM) is a cryptocurrency that can be stored in hardware wallets for enhanced security. Hardware wallets are physical devices that store your private keys offline, making them less vulnerable to hacking and other online threats.
Here are some of the hardware wallets that support QTUM:
Ledger Nano S: This is a popular hardware wallet that supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including QTUM. It is a small device that connects to your computer via USB and requires a PIN code to access your funds.
Ledger Nano X: This is an upgraded version of the Nano S with additional features, including Bluetooth connectivity and support for more cryptocurrencies. It also supports QTUM.
Trezor Model T: This is another popular hardware wallet that supports QTUM. It features a touch screen display and allows you to store multiple cryptocurrencies.
KeepKey: This is a relatively new hardware wallet that supports QTUM. It features a large display screen and can store multiple cryptocurrencies.
Ellipal Titan: This is a cold wallet that doesn’t require any connection to the internet. It features a touch screen display and supports QTUM, along with several other cryptocurrencies.
Before purchasing a hardware wallet, it’s essential to ensure that it supports QTUM and that it meets your specific needs in terms of security, ease of use, and cost.
The best option for storing any cryptocurrency would be to use a hardware wallet. These are pieces of hardware that store the private key to your coins offline.
Today, there are two leading hardware manufacturers to choose from – Ledger and TREZOR. Both companies have different models of hardware wallets that will get the job done.
If you want deeper insights on specific models, you can read my Ledger Nano X review or my TREZOR Model T review.
Qtum (QTUM) Software Wallets
Qtum (QTUM) is a cryptocurrency that can also be stored in software wallets for convenience and accessibility. Software wallets are digital applications that allow you to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies on your computer or mobile device.
Here are some of the software wallets that support QTUM:
Qtum Core Wallet: This is the official wallet for QTUM and is available for download on the project’s website. It is a full-node wallet that allows you to store, send, and receive QTUM on your computer.
Qtum Electrum Wallet: This is a lightweight wallet that can be used with QTUM. It is available for download on the Electrum website and provides fast and secure transactions.
Ledger Live: If you have a Ledger hardware wallet, you can also use the Ledger Live software to manage your QTUM. The software provides a user-friendly interface for managing your crypto assets.
Atomic Wallet: This is a multi-currency wallet that supports QTUM, as well as many other cryptocurrencies. It is available for download on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Guarda Wallet: This is another multi-currency wallet that supports QTUM, as well as many other cryptocurrencies. It is available for download on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and as a web-based wallet.
Before selecting a software wallet, it’s important to ensure that it supports QTUM and that it meets your specific needs in terms of security, ease of use, and compatibility with your device. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that software wallets are generally less secure than hardware wallets as they are connected to the internet.
Hardware wallets cost money, so if you’re not sure how serious you are about cryptocurrencies and just want to get a taste of what they feel like, perhaps you would be better off starting with a software wallet.
A software wallet is a free program that lets you store your coins on your computer or mobile phone.
The easiest Aave (AAVE) software wallets to get started with are undoubtedly Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda . All wallets are very intuitive. Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda is available on desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as on mobile for both iOS and Android. If you want more information you can read my Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda review.
Step 2 – Find an Aave (AAVE) Exchange
Buy Qtum (QTUM) through Binance
- Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange which is the largest exchange in the world in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software.
Buy Qtum (QTUM) through Kucoin
- Kucoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users from 700+ countries and regions. According to Alexa traffic ranking, KuCoin’s monthly unique ranking is in the top 5 globally. Known as the “People’s Exchange”, KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with multi-language and 24/7 customer service. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established local communities all over the world in South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, India, and other regions, providing users with the most local services. Currently, 1 out of every 4 crypto holders in the world is with KuCoin.
Buy Qtum (QTUM) through Crypto.com
- Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore. As of May 2022, the company reportedly had 50 million customers and 4,000 employees. The exchange issues a token, Cronos.The company was initially founded in Hong Kong by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo in 2016 as “Monaco”. In 2018, the company was renamed as Crypto.com following a purchase of a domain owned by cryptography researcher and professor Matt Blaze. Domain sellers valued the domain at US$5–10 million.
Buy Qtum (QTUM) through Gate.io
- Gate.io is a crypto exchange founded in the fall of 2017. The platform is a part of Gate Technology Inc corporation, and has a registration address in Virginia, USA. The platform does not have an official license. Its interface is available for working in three versions: English, Chinese and Japanese.
Buy Qtum (QTUM) through MEXC
- Founded in 2018, MEXC Global is known as the exchange of high performance and mega transaction matching technology. The team at MEXC Global are some of the first movers and pioneers of financial and blockchain technology. Currently, MEXC Global caters to 10 M+ users in more than 170 countries around the world and we have just started.
Step 3 – Withdraw Your Qtum (QTUM)
Once you decide on an exchange, open an account and buy your Qtum. Make sure to withdraw the Qtum from the exchange to your personal wallet.
Never leave coins on an exchange, as you risk losing them all if that exchange gets hacked or shuts down (which has happened in the past).
OVERVIEW
Who Are the Founders of Qtum?
Patrick Dai is the project’s founder and the chairman of the Qtum Foundation. He studied computer science in Draper University and then dropped out of PhD from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He started his career as a product manager at Alibaba and then worked on a series of blockchain projects, including Factom, Vechain, Bitse Group and Meilink before starting Qtum in 2016.
The other two co-founders are the CTO and blockchain architect Neil Mahi and lead developer Jordan Earls.
Many of the team members listed on the Qtum official website seem to not have an active Linkedin page or a Github profile. It is confirmed though that Qtum has several high-profile backers, including the Bitcoin.com’s Roger Ver and Jeremy Gardner, an early crypto investor turned skincare professional, co-founder of Augur and EIR in Blockchain Capital.
What Makes Qtum Unique?
Qtum is a cryptocurrency that combines elements of both Bitcoin and Ethereum, making it unique in the world of blockchain technology. Here are some of the key features that make Qtum stand out:
Proof of Stake: Qtum uses a proof of stake consensus mechanism, which is more energy-efficient than the proof of work mechanism used by Bitcoin. This allows for faster transaction confirmations and a more scalable network.
Smart Contracts: Qtum allows for the creation of smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts that can be used to automate various aspects of business operations. This makes it attractive to businesses and developers looking to build decentralized applications.
Compatibility with Existing Infrastructure: Qtum is designed to be compatible with existing infrastructure, which means that businesses can integrate it into their existing systems more easily than other cryptocurrencies.
Decentralized Governance: Qtum has a decentralized governance system, which allows for community members to vote on changes to the network. This ensures that the network remains democratic and decentralized.
The Qtum x86 Virtual Machine: The Qtum x86 virtual machine allows for smart contracts to be written in popular programming languages, such as C++, Java, and Python, which makes it more accessible to developers.
Overall, Qtum’s combination of proof of stake, smart contracts, compatibility with existing infrastructure, decentralized governance, and the Qtum x86 virtual machine make it a unique and promising cryptocurrency with a lot of potential for growth and adoption.
How Many Qtum (QTUM) Coins Are There in Circulation?
According to the Qtum whitepaper, the initial supply of QTUM coins was 100 million, all of which were minted instantly before the project went online. 51 million coins were sold to the public through an ICO process in March 2017. Over that, 8 million coins went to the early private investors and 12 million were allocated to the project team with a four-year lock-up. The rest is controlled by the Qtum Chain Foundation, a non-profit company registered in Singapore, which will receive it in four parts by March-2021. These are 20 million coins allocated for business development purposes and 9% for academic research and promotion.
The coin supply is not fixed, new tokens can be mined with block reward halving every four years from the initial block reward subsidy of 4.0 QTUM per block, going through seven halvings to eventually reaching zero by year 2045, when the maximum supply will reach 107,822,406 QTUM.
How Is the Qtum Network Secured?
The technical approach to Qtum is not the same as Bitcoin and Ethereum currently use. Qtum chose the MPoS (mutualized proof-of-stake) consensus mechanism for network security. It is a modified version of Proof-of-Stake 3.0.
The protocol incentivizes users to keep their coins locked to facilitate and secure the block validation. This is called staking. Confirming each block is a competition between coin holders, where based on connectivity to the network and random chance they get to right to validate the block. Unlike the early PoS protocols, here the block reward is constant and does not depend on coin age for determining the likeliness of getting it. The rewards are spread proportionally to the stake, so the more coins are staked, the more reward the user gets. On top of that, the MPoS protocol is protected against “junk contract” attacks by splitting 10% of the block reward between the block producing miner and nine previous miners and delaying the remaining 90% by 500 blocks in the future.
Unlike the proof-of-work mechanism used in Bitcoin, the proof-of-stake algorithms are significantly less costly to maintain, are more environmentally friendly and can provide a great deal of decentralization, which is the cornerstone of blockchain security.
Where Can You Buy Qtum ?
Qtum (QTUM) can be bought and traded on several cryptocurrency exchanges. Here are some of the most popular exchanges that list QTUM:
Binance: This is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, and it offers trading pairs for QTUM with several other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
Huobi: This is another major cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading pairs for QTUM with several other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
OKEx: This is a global cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading pairs for QTUM with several other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
Bitfinex: This is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading pairs for QTUM with several other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies.
Bittrex: This is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading pairs for QTUM with several other cryptocurrencies.
KuCoin: This is a cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading pairs for QTUM with several other cryptocurrencies.
To buy QTUM on these exchanges, you will typically need to create an account and complete a verification process, which may include providing personal identification documents. Once you have completed the verification process and deposited funds into your account, you can buy QTUM with your chosen currency or cryptocurrency. It’s important to keep in mind that cryptocurrency prices can be volatile, and investing in cryptocurrencies carries risk, so it’s important to do your own research and invest only what you can afford to lose.