what is qtum 
qtum is a cryptocurrency that combines ethereum s smart contract functionality with the security of bitcoin s unspent transaction output model utxo to create a platform that is suitable for adoption by large organizations 1 qtum was founded in 2016 by patrick dai jordan earls and neil mahl and its initial coin offering ico was held in march 2017 2as of august 2022 the coin was ranked 98 by overall market cap with the price hovering around 3 48 with a market cap of 363 15 million 3understanding qtumthe founders of qtum pronounced quantum sought to combine some of the best aspects of both bitcoin and ethereum with the goal of becoming a secure exchange for business focused decentralized applications dapps qtum hopes to disrupt the online transactions market and become an integral part of industries such as finance and social networking its currency is called a token 5one core element of qtum borrowed from bitcoin is the utxo model a sort of accounting system used by bitcoin that provides a high level of transactional security the uxto system provides a type of receipt for unspent coins after a transaction qtum copied and reworked bitcoin s utxo code for its own platform 5qtum borrowed smart contracts from ethereum smart contracts are blocks of self executing code that once verified on the blockchain carry out the terms of the deal making the contract irrevocable 5qtum bitcoin and ethereumwhile qtum borrowed from both bitcoin and ethereum it differs from both of its much bigger competitors in key ways to begin with qtum deployed what it calls the account abstraction layer aal the technology that enables the use of smart contracts in conjunction with the utxo model aal enables the utxo and smart contract models to interact 5qtum also uses a proof of stake pos consensus model rather than the proof of work model used by bitcoin 5 this makes it easier to mine new coins bitcoin s pow approach is resource intensive causing the computer networks mining its coins to consume more electricity annually than many entire countries a pos approach simplifies the process and results in much less power consumption 6with a pos system miners are chosen to verify blocks based on their own stakes in the system rather than who can solve a complex math problem the fastest the bigger the stake the greater the user s chance of being selected to verify the transactions investing in cryptocurrencies and other initial coin offerings icos is highly risky and speculative and this article is not a recommendation by investopedia or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies or other icos since each individual s situation is unique a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions investopedia makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein 