Introducing Qubit Protocol — A Governance Platform for Funding Quantum Technology Startups
Previously, world-changing technological developments with large-scale commercial opportunities and benefits were only accessible to a small minority — the venture capitalists of Silicon Valley, multinational corporations and the elite circles. Now on the precipice of a large-scale technological disruption that is quantum computing, we are faced with a similar dilemma when it comes to accessibility.
According to Goldman Sachs, quantum computing could be a $US29 billion industry by 2021, with tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and IBM currently paving the way forward for quantum technologies. Quantum in its current state is primed for growth, with IBM unveiling the first 17-Qubit processor in May-2017, the 50-Qubit processor in Nov-2017 and Google recently reclaiming the throne with a 72-Qubit processor in Mar-2018. The race for quantum startups and organisations to become the industry leaders in the area of Quantum technologies has just begun.
Quantum is shifting from pure theory to functionality reality and the technology is nearing market readiness. Investment is needed to further drive innovation, however the majority of investors lack expertise in the field of quantum and hence aren’t able to make informed investment decisions. Strategically, what would happen if a large pool of quantum experts were used to provide insights from a technological standpoint?
Introducing Qubit Protocol, a governance platform for funding quantum technology startups. Our vision is to create a quorum of quantum experts (technical and commercial) from across the globe, fostering collaboration with the wider community whilst ensuring that the most meritorious projects receive the funding they need. The projects are evaluated on their ability to achieve their pre-defined scientific and technological milestones as this is a suitable evaluation metric in the quantum startup space. The utilisation of the blockchain provides an elegant governance solution to make the most efficient decisions in funding and will aid us in cultivating and boosting the quantum technology community globally.
What is Quantum Technology?
Quantum technology is an area that arises from the application of quantum mechanics to functional technological use cases. To expand on this, it is useful to first understand the main applications of quantum mechanics;
- Quantum Computing and Information,
- Quantum-Secure Communications, and
- Quantum Sensing.
Taking quantum computing as an example, there are two aspects of quantum mechanics that manifest themselves in this application — superposition and entanglement. As this is an introductory post on Qubit Protocol, we will be publishing a separate article titled ‘An Introduction to Quantum Technology’ within the coming weeks to further detail the quantum technology space, so keep an eye-out for future articles by subscribing and joining our community groups via the links at the end of this article.
The Era of Liquid Democracy
Traditionally, there are two forms of democracy — direct and representative. In a direct democracy, individuals vote on proposals directly and the community collectively arrives at a decision. However direct democracies do not scale well in larger communities, as this requires each individual to develop a certain level of expertise in order to make an informed decision. Whilst this system provides equality, it often results in lower quality outputs due to a lack of expertise. In a representative democracy, members elect or delegate a representative to act on their behalf. This is akin to how most governments operate, and this system is largely centralized as the system is inherently flawed, since the voting power is completely controlled by a select few.
With the introduction of the blockchain, a hybrid voting system comprised of both direct and representative elements has spawned at a modern governance level, that allows users to vote on decisions directly or delegate their votes to a representative on their behalf. This creates a modular voting structure that enables larger communities to arrive at a true consensus.
A Brief Introduction to Qubit Protocol
Qubit Protocol is a decentralized blockchain enabled governance protocol that utilises the collective intelligence of the quantum science community to make strategic funding decisions on quantum technology projects. The platform will take governance to a new level by pushing liquid democratic models and crypto-economics to the limit whilst utilising the blockchain to the fullest potential for this purpose. The protocol is comprised of two tiers;
- A verified quantum expert tier, for individuals at the top of their field from an academic and/or commercial standpoint.
- A public member tier, for individuals with an interest in benefiting from the advancement of quantum technologies.
The protocol will enable experts and public members to vote on the most meritorious projects or startups to be funded. Public members are able to stake their Qubit Protocol Tokens (QPT) on projects directly or delegate their votes to a quantum expert to decide on their behalf. Via the protocol, the projects with sufficient votes will receive funding via the Qubit Decentralized Fund. The funds will be secured in an Ethereum smart contract which means the protocol decisions will be influencing funding on a blockchain level.
QPT used to vote for successfully funded projects will be locked and a small percentage of QPT for unsuccessful projects will be burnt to ensure users are selectively backing their most preferred projects. The token itself provides the voting power on the platform with incentives for participation in the governance protocol (both for voting and verification mechanisms). Token holders who have staked against a successful project will receive minted QPT when the project achieves it’s predefined scientific and/or research milestones. For projects that achieve profit-making events such as an IPO or acquisition, a percentage of the profits may be used to buy-back a portion of the QPT supply to be burnt.
Users will also be able to boost their milestone rewards by aiding successful projects and startups with research and work. The rewards will be based on the level of difficulty of the work completed and the users prior number of successful submissions.
The team is comprised of technical experts in quantum computing, blockchain and commercialisation. Information regarding our pre-sale and white-paper will be released within the coming weeks. If you’re interested in engaging with the rest of the Qubit Protocol community, join the conversation and stay up-to-date using the below.
- Official website via https://qubitprotocol.com
- General community and protocol discussions via Telegram
- Official announcements via Telegram
- Technical quantum discussions via Slack
- General updates via Twitter
Published Literature
Investments and Partnerships
Email us at investments@qubitprotocol.com to inquire about our private pre-sale or partnerships@qubitprotocol.com to inquire about potential partnerships.
