After the first full year of operation, blockchain protocol QTUM has plenty to celebrate, both for its future and its already illustrious past. In its short time on the market QTUM has achieved several transformative successes and is aiming for much grander things with new initiatives and a new roadmap for 2019 and beyond.

Among the most significant milestones during QTUM’s year one was the launch of its main net and essential advances in the research and community development front. This includes funding several key areas of study at academic institutions such as The University of California-Berkley in the United States, Xi’an Jiaotong University and Xidian University in China, and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

The team has also taken great steps to improve its outreach, holding a variety of meetups, conferences, and face-to-face community events. Additionally,QTUM started to build a Community Ambassadors program which will help connect with grassroots initiatives and projects within the sector.

Looking to the Future

With the QTUM blockchain successfully operational and active, the Foundation has now set their eyes on the horizon and has big plans for 2019. Currently, Qtum is building a new footing for the platform’s 0.16 update, with the goal of improving scalability and performance, as well as achieving 50,000 transactions per second.

The new QTUM chain will have Segwit technology enabled by default and will also include several key upgrades. These include an efficiency improvement for SHA256 hashing and lower CPU usage, which will enhance performance and reduce resource inputs. It will also feature faster synchronization of nodes.

QTUM is developing its x86 virtual machine, which will improve smart contract functionality regarding security, ease of use, as well as auditibility. The company will also implement a new database tool, DeltaDB, which will align more closely with its UTXO model.

The Foundation’s plans to increase the utility of its platform through the development of QTUM-X, an enterprise level blockchain ecosystem which utilizes Proof of Authority for a more stable, safer consensus model. Primarily, the goal is to create a more user-friendly environment for enterprise management.

QTUM’s new roadmap includes several key highlights:

• The first public release version of QTUM-X in Q1 2019
• Launching the first public testnet for x86 smart contracts in Q2 2019
• Launching the second public testnet for x86VM in Q3 2019
• Integrating x86VM into the QTUM main network by Q4 2019

QTUM is a Singapore-based blockchain technology that bridges Ethereum’s smart contracts on top of Bitcoin’s stable blockchain while using proof of stake for verification. By doing so, QTUM hopes to increase the range and interoperability of smart contract applications, especially for business and institutional purposes. In addition, QTUM will implement tools, templates, and other plug-and-play smart contract options to make it easier for businesses to build and execute smart contracts.