April 11, 2024 | Token Report | Quant (QNT)
Editor: Matt Beneduci
It’s the center of finance and home to the world's most influential financial institutions, banks, investment firms, and insurance conglomerates. Geographically situated between the Americas and Asia, London, England has long been the hub for global trade and investments. It’s the birthplace of 330 year old organizations like the Bank of England and Lloyds of London, who set the modern day standard of central banking and insurance. It’s no wonder the UK’s current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is long-time crypto and blockchain advocate.This is because the UK knows finance, and they know that if they want to continue to serve as the global financial hub, they must go digital.
You may be hearing the term “CBDC” being thrown around more frequently. A CBDC is a Central Bank Digital Currency, and they’ll be here sooner rather than later. Governments have every incentive to offer CBDC’s since they're cheap, easily traceable, and taxable. Anyone with access to the internet could use them by downloading an app, and they cost governments virtually nothing to issue. However, CBDC’s still bring a fundamental problem to the table that crypto’s like Bitcoin do not. Bitcoin is fixed in supply, while CBDC’s will have supplies that can be manipulated in the same way fiat currency can be overprinted.
Many crypto enthusiasts can’t stand the idea of CBDC’s, and I can understand why. On one hand, it could give governments even more power and influence over their economies. On the other, it could be quite the endorsement of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies alike, essentially sending the world a message that blockchain technology is so powerful that it’s reworking our entire global banking system. We think both cases are likely to form true, but we don’t see CBDC’s as inherently bad. In the same way that fiat currency and assets like gold coexist today, we see the same for the digital world.
You see, there’s been a lot of theories, use cases, and analysis behind the idea of CBDCs. But now for the first time, real applications, real payments, and real use cases have started to be tested on the world's largest institutions and banks to help explore what a CBDC means for these industries. Named after British scientist Rosalind Franklin, “Project Rosalind '' is a joint experimentation between two UK based organizations, the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) and the Bank of England. The project set out to develop application programming interface (API) prototypes for CBDC systems. It was a massive success, proving that the use of Overledger API’s could play a key role in enabling CBDC systems to function globally.
As the saying goes, history doesn’t repeat itself… it rhymes.
London has set the tone on global banking for more than 300 years, and that’s not going to change. In order for the rest of the world to start implementing CBDC systems, London needs to take the lead, and that’s exactly what’s happening. We think this is just the start of a massive restructuring to the global payments system for large banks and institutions. Like it or not, CBDCs are inevitably on the horizon. In order to function effectively, they’ll need to interact with the crypto world via smart contracts. And this crypto network is making it happen.
Introducing Quant (QNT)
Quant is a network that uses Overledger technology to facilitate interoperability between different blockchains, allowing seamless communication and transfer of assets across multiple networks. Essentially, an Overledger could be viewed as a central hub. The Quant network isn’t a blockchain itself, rather it is an operating system that runs on top of blockchains to provide scalable compatibility between different networks and chains. You see, a blockchain network is like a database that holds endless lines of information. Ethereum, Cardano, Avalanche, etc… are all examples of different blockchains. These networks aren’t compatible with each other, so developers typically need to choose which blockchains they want to build applications on. For obvious reasons, this can be limiting for developers and the applications they build.
If only there was a way to build applications that are compatible across multiple blockchains…
Turns out, there is. You should be familiar with a decentralized application, or DApp, which operates directly on blockchains, similar to the apps on your phone. Quant expands on this concept by introducing multichain decentralized applications ("mDApps"). With mDApps, developers can create smart contracts (self-executing code) using any programming language, and these contracts can function across various blockchains. This means rather than deploying separate DApps on different blockchains, developers can launch a single application that operates seamlessly across multiple blockchains.
So, why is this important?
The overledger is like a network of networks, allowing enterprises, banks, central banks, and Fintech companies to securely connect to any network or blockchain. Quant offers a plug-and-play solution, by connecting different blockchains and enterprise software without requiring new infrastructure. This makes the integration process cost-effective and efficient. The network provides almost immeasurable value, because every blockchain project, enterprise developer, and user all need interoperability between both different blockchains and existing networks. Quant provides this integration at scale, with just three lines of code.
We previously mentioned Project Rosalind, which was led by BIS and the Bank of England to explore how CBDCs can function with the use of networks like QUANT. As a partner serving on the vendor team for Project Rosalind, QUANT made key contributions like designing and developing API functionalities, providing the underlying infrastructure and blockchain platform, and securing smart contracts and interoperability of central bank ledgers. While this is experimental for now, it's becoming clear that Quant will play a massive role in bridging the gap between private crypto sectors and public CBDCs. If Quant is used to integrate with major CBDCs, the network's transaction volume could soar to be greater than anything we’ve ever seen in crypto. And as network volume increases, so does the value of the token.
The QNT token
In order for enterprises to launch applications on the Quant network, they’ll need to hold QNT tokens. The QNT token serves as the utility token of the Quant network. Users need QNT tokens to access and utilize various functionalities within the network, such as executing transactions, deploying smart contracts, and participating in governance decisions. As with many tokens in the crypto ecosystem, QNT holders can also vote on proposals, giving them a say in the direction of the network. This is critical, especially when dealing with huge public enterprises, institutions, and banks. But what investors really love about the QNT token is the tokenomics.
Let’s take a look at some of the specs:
The total supply of the QNT token is 14.8 million. This means only 14.8 million QNT tokens will ever exist in the world, even less than Bitcoin. Capping a token supply provides an underlying scarcity to an asset, which could help drive the token up in value over time. Of that 14.8 million supply, 81% have already been issued and are in circulation. This means that the future inflation rate of QNT tokens will be very low, which is a bullish case for investors. Today, QNTs market cap sits around $1.1 billion, and we think that’s set to grow.
Potential Upside
Enterprises and governments are already turning to Quant as the No.1 tool for blockchain related solutions. Some of their most notable partnerships are with LACChain, SIA, and Oracle. For starters, SIA is one of the largest fintech companies in Europe, serving more than 500 private banks and trading venues spreading across Europe and South Africa. SIA also works directly with The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, better known as SWIFT, which links more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries. As central banks around the world look for solutions to launch CBDCs, Quant is actively working on ways to make national digital currencies interoperable with one another.
You see, Quant holds a unique position in the market. While most cryptos are community-driven projects that aim to minimize the roles of banks and governments, Quant is actually focused on partnering with these institutions to give them the ability to use cryptos. As we mentioned, the Overledger technology Quant uses solves a critical problem in the public enterprise space. The problem being that most of the world's largest institutions, banks, and governments are all currently operating on what is called a “legacy” system. This refers to a system that was built with outdated infrastructure, and can’t interact with new technology. Quant makes it simple for enterprises and governments to integrate their existing legacy systems with the technology behind the world's leading cryptos.
Check out a visual representation of Quant’s infrastructure below:
As blockchain and cryptos continue to grow, we expect demand for Quant’s “plug-in” system to increase dramatically.
But dealing with institutional money is a tall order…
And a large part of our confidence in Quant to see long-term success is thanks to their founder and CEO, Gilbert Verdian. Gilbert's background has ties to the Federal Reserve, the UK Parliament, the Bank of England, Mastercard, and more. An impressive background to say the least, it’s safe to say that Gilbert knows a thing or two about finance, and he knows what drives institutional money. The Quant team is one of the most decorative in the space, and we feel confident in their leadership.
While we love that Quant is actively working on CBDC solutions, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Payment processing, Capital Markets, and Supply Chain industries all stand to benefit from the Quant network. You may have seen BlockRocks CEO, Larry Fink, in the news recently talking about the “tokenization” of assets. Or in other words, putting real-world assets on the blockchain. BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world, with $10 trillion in assets under management. Larry Fink has talked publicly about BlockRock’s digital asset strategy and how he sees tokenization of financial assets as the next steps. The largest asset manager in the world knows that ownership is going digital. Everything, and we mean everything - stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, and currencies are quietly working towards integrating to the blockchain and becoming tokenized, digital assets. In order for these assets to go digital, they’re going to need operating systems like Quant’s Overledger.
The Digital Age portfolio is holding Quant (QNT) for the long-term. We believe it could become equivalent to the likes of companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, ect… as it’s Overledger operating system could be the next Windows or Mac OS of the digital age.
The Digital Age Portfolio
Quant (QNT): Buy up to $225.
Exchanges: Coinbase, Crypto.com, or more.
Wallets: Exodus, Metamask
Quant Resources:
Want to get in touch?Matt@benedefi.com