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On July 21, 2013 new digital currency Quark (QRK) was announced on the Bitcointalk forum; an open source blockchain based digital currency using six different hashing functions—designed to be more secure and easier to spend than Bitcoin. The Quark protocol has a blockchain speed of just 30 seconds with a high per block reward. Transactions take only three minutes to confirm. It is also geared towards CPU mining, making it accessible for anyone with a computer to mine. Quark currently has over 20 merchants accepting it as a payment method, and the currency is traded for Bitcoin on digital currency exchanges Cryptsy, Coins-E, and Bter and will soon open up on Chinese exchange btc38.com. As of the time of writing one Quark is currently trading for $0.20 USD per QRK equivalent in Bitcoin: this is an increase of over 500 percent in just one week. The Quark / Bitcoin currency pair on Cryptsy has the highest volume by far of all the 92 digital currency pairs which can be traded there. The project has an extremely active community, with already two forums dedicated to Quark; there are wallet clients for Mac, Windows, and Linux.One of Quark’s developers, Kolin Evans, was recently interviewed by Bill Still of the Still Report as part of a four day feature on Quark which ended on Thanksgiving Day. Kolin explained the purpose of the Quark currency is to build on what Bitcoin has accomplished and improve it to make it less centralized and more accessible than Bitcoin. Quark is also designed to be mined with CPUs rather than specialized hardware such as ASICs; meaning that anyone worldwide with a computer can mine QRK.
With a blocktime speed of just 30 seconds and a transaction confirm time of just three minutes (6 blocks), Quark is fast, alleviating some of the long Bitcoin transaction confirm wait times. Security is a top priority for Quark. With nine rounds of hashing using six different hashing functions, the Quark network is not only secure for the present, but is well prepared to deal with future unknowns. With a short term for mining the majority of the coins—out of 247 million to be mined in the first six months, 245 million have already been mined—this ensures that additional mining will not dilute the value of the currency. However, there will never be less than a one QRK reward per block, amounting to an annual increase of one million QRK, or a yearly inflation of 0.5 percent. Quark is also designed to be mined with CPUs rather than specialized hardware such as ASICs, meaning that anyone with a computer can mine them.
Two features make Quark easier to use as a currency than Bitcoin. First is the larger amount of coin that will be placed in circulation — 247 million (plus an additional one million per year) compared to only 21 million ever for Bitcoin. This makes it possible to deal in whole units of currency, or at least large decimals, rather than thousandths of units, or out to the third and fourth decimal place, as is becoming standard with Bitcoin. Second, the annual inflation rate provides an additional motivation to actually spend Quarks rather than view them as an asset to hold or speculate on. As of this writing, over 20 merchants already accept Quark as payment and with its recent acceptance by CoinPayments.net, many more will soon follow.
Quark comes on the scene at a time when interest in cryptocurrencies has never been higher. Within days of being announced it could be traded on three different exchanges, making it possible for many people to hold it. It can and always will be primarily mined with CPU’s — ordinary computers. By the end of the initial six months when the vast majority will already be mined, Quark will have a broad base of support among users. This combined with its quick adoption by merchants makes it a good choice for spendable currency.
With its multiple hash protocol, its availability to people with limited resources to buy or mine, and its large market cap of 247 million, Quark is poised to not only be a solid digital currency investment but a usable currency as well. Online merchants worldwide are able to accept Quark for payment by using CoinPayments.net, and QRK is about to be listed on the Chinese exchange btc38.com. Quark is well positioned to quite possibly bring huge benefits to both investors and end users.
Release ID: 27550
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