Quarkchain Update

[Heritage]

QuarkChain Official
A New Attempt of Blockchain Expansion：
QuarkChain Reveals Infinite Possibilities of Blockchain


As the most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has been excavated for more than 10 years since 2009. There are two issues in the operation process: 1) The risk of centralization brought by mining and energy consumption; and 2) a sharp increase in transaction costs gas due to the inadequate transaction processing capacity. The first problem gave birth to consensus mechanisms such as POS, PBFT, etc. Many projects including BCH and EOS are trying to solve the second problem.

QuarkChain also recognized these two problems and tried to solve them in different ways. Decentralization is a very important characteristic of Bitcoin network. In order to follow the concept of “1 cpu, 1 vote” mentioned by Satoshi and avoid the possible threat of “51% attack” brought by monopoly and big mining pools with high-performance mining machines, QuarkChain developed a mining algorithm called QKChash. This algorithm is designed on a different principle from Ethash and other anti-optimization algorithms and it has better anti-optimization ability. (E3 mining machine, developed by BitMain in 2018, shows that Ethash cannot resist ASIC optimization.)

From the QuarkChain testnet, we have already started appreciating the great benefits of flexibility. Let us take the status of testnet version 2.4 as an example, which contains five shards.

(Chain 0 runs Ethash mining algorithm; Chain 1–3 run Ethash+PoSW consensus mechanism; Chain 4 runs double-SHA256 mining algorithm; Chain 5 runs QKChash )
According to the explanations on the relevant pages of GitHub, we know that these different shards actually run quite different mining algorithms.

** The following quotes from QuarkChain testnet ‘s introduction on GitHub [1] **

Chain 0: running ethash, 1 shard, no PoSW.

Chain 1: running ethash, 1 shard, PoSW requiring 10,000 TQKC minimum to lower the difficulty once in a window (256 blocks).

Chain 2: running ethash, 1 shard, PoSW requiring 20,000 TQKC minimum to lower the difficulty once in a window (256 blocks).

Chain 3: running ethash, 1 shard, PoSW requiring 40,000 TQKC minimum to lower the difficulty once in a window (256 blocks).

Chain 4: running double-SHA256, has 2 shards, no PoSW.

Chain 5: running QKChash, has 2 shards, no PoSW.

For PoSW, when the block difficulty is lowered, effective diff = actual diff // 20.

Supported tokens include: TQKC (default token), QBTC, QETH, QAAPL, QTSLA, QI.

Note: The last sentence here indicates that there are more than one token running in testnet, but six tokens!

Two consensus mechanisms (POW, PoSW), three hash algorithms (Ethash, double SHA256, QKChash), six tokens (TQKC, QBTC, QETH, QAAPL, QSLA, QI), five chains, and eight shards. Aren’t these enough to enrich your imagination for the future? (No mention of another killer’s mace: Clusters!)

The access of various mining algorithms makes it possible for miners with different equipment to join QuarkChain’s mining ecosystem without interference. Optimizers and anti-optimists can live in harmony in a public chain ecosystem and practice their own ideas. There will be no extrusion effect of ASIC miners on other equipment in other public chains.

The original PoSW consensus, on the one hand, enriches the usage scenarios of tokens, and on the other hand, increases the security of the network. The use of two different consensus mechanisms in one testnet also shows the potential to support more consensus algorithms.

Six native tokens (note that the six tokens here are not ERC20 standard ones, but ETH-like tokens) have rich interactive functions, such as rewarding miners, paying gas fees, and interacting with intelligent contracts.

With such a wealth of flexibility, QuarkChain will bring a truly “one-chain” experience. You don’t have to care about the EOS and ETH debate over who is more centralized [2]. You think that assets like the ETH mechanism are safer, ok, you can put assets in Chain 1. If you want to play the cool game on Chain 6 (runs DPoS mechanism), no problem, just play it (you don’t need and don’t want to know the complicated registration mechanism of EOS account) [3]. The only thing to do is to transfer a small amount of assets to Chain 6 in your wallet, and then select Chain 6 as the main account address.

Looking back at the history of the mobile Internet, when we first planned 4G in the 3G era, some people could only imagine that we could watch movies on buses in the future (which has indeed been achieved). It’s hard to imagine that in the age of 4G, mobile payment can be so convenient, a shared bicycle based on smart locks has emerged, and a new business model has been presented. To give you an example, we just want to tell you that technology will bring a lot of unimaginable things. QuarkChain will also support a variety of virtual machines, token economics and other cool features in the future. There are no boundaries of blockchain in the future. Keep opening your imagination!