Following a recent official announcement by the development team over at Qtum, you can now access their full suite of blockchain development tools on Google Cloud. Contrary to the previous hassle of sourcing all the software, searching for the most up-to-date version and updating manually, you can now avoid all that and get everything in one place with automated updates.
Qtum Developer Toolkit – What Does It Do?
The Qtum toolkit contains all the resources you’ll need to either launch your own node, develop dApps on the QTUM blockchain or even start staking. Depending on your needs, you can find the following software included:
- Qtum Core
- Solidity Compiler
- Qmix IDE
- Solar (smart contracts deployment tool)
- Qt-dev libraries
- dApp development libraries and tools
The goal behind this move, according to CIO Miguel Palencia is to allow increased accessibility and ease of use to all users, ranging from those who wish to adopt blockchain technology to experts in the field. Getting a copy of the toolkit is free and once downloaded, it will be kept up-to-date automatically, once there are newer versions available.
Although available on the Google Cloud platform, it’s important to note that this does not mean there’s an official partnership between Qtum and Google. You are free to use any other development kits if you want but the goal here is to offer an opportunity for others, to easily launch a Qtum virtual machine in the Cloud and get things underway.
What is Qtum?
Qtum is a blockchain platform that runs on a Proof of Stake algorithm. What this means is that in order to create new coins and increase your supply, you need to stake them – a process which requires virtually no computing power, compared to traditional mining and is much more energy efficient. All you need to do is keep your wallet online, ideally 24/7 and thus secure the blockchain. The more coins you have, relative to the total amount of coins staked in the network, the higher your chances of receiving a block reward. For your services, you’ll receive a return on your investment which ranges from 1 to 4 percent yearly.
By joining the QTUM network, you’ll be able to make use of their wide range of digital applications or dApps, develop a new one to fit your needs or create smart contracts for various purposes.