Top Things You Should Know About Qantstamp (QSP)

Hey guys, I’m back with another comprehensive Q&A piece, this time for the leading blockchain and smart contract security platform – Quantstamp (QSP).
To date, Quantstamp has secured over $5B in digital asset within smart contracts and is working with industry-leading blockchain projects like Ethereum, Chainlink, Maker, Binance, and more.
Now, before we dive in, the following piece is similar to my latest articles on Cream Finance (CREAM), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Filecoin (FIL), so if you haven’t already seen those, be sure to check them out as well. 
Hope you enjoy!
The list of Q&A is kind of long so first comes the list of questions that I have prepared the answers to:

1. What is Quantstamp?
2. Who and When Created Quantstamp?
3. What is $QSP Token Used For?
4. What are the products of Quantstamp?
5. What are some notable audits by Quantstamp?
6. Where to Store $QSP?
7. Where to Buy & Sell $QSP?

1. What is Quantstamp?

Quantstamp website homepage

Quantstamp is a smart contract security-auditing protocol with a mission to secure the decentralized internet. Its protocol is designed to find security vulnerabilities and bugs in Ethereum smart contracts before the contract is published on the blockchain. However, it's manual audits extend beyond just Ethereum. 
Industry learning blockchain companies and cryptocurrency projects hire Quantstamp to conduct smart contracts, off-chain, networking, and front-end audits in order to enhance their security. 
Quantstamp has worked with more than 120 innovative startups, they’ve secured over $5B in digital asset risk from hackers, they have 5 regional offices; San Francisco, Toronto, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo; and they are recognized as leaders in blockchain security. 

Quantstamp Advantages

Blockchain Agnostic
Quantsatmp is blockchain agnostic and has audited client systems on Ethereum, Hyperledger, Binance Chain, EOS, Polkadot, Cardano, AVA Labs, and Corda. 
Leaders in Blockchain Cybersecurity
Quantstamp wrote the first textbook on Smart Contract Security and employs a top team of PhDs and security professionals who have a combined total of over 1000 Google Scholar citations.
Sophisticated and In-Depth Audits
No matter the blockchain, Quantstamp provides in-depth audits of consensus mechanisms, off-chain code, the networking stack, and complex smart contract systems.
Fast, Efficient, & High-Quality Audits
The Quantstamp auditing process looks like this:

1. Meeting with a Quantstamp business lead and lead auditor.
2. Assess the workload and provide a quote.
3. Quantstamp auditors independently review the project’s code and documentation. They certify the security of its smart contracts, perform automated analyses on the code, run the test suite, and measure test coverage.
4. Privately send the project team a detailed audit report with solutions and recommendations 
5. Once the project team fixes the issues and best practices, Quantstamp runs the audit again and sends the project an updated audit report and certificate (or no).

Enterprise Blockchain Solutions
Not only does Quantstamp provide blockchain security audits, but they also provide fast, efficient, high-security blockchain implementations with enterprise features. They help enterprises with their blockchain goals from idea to launch.

2. Who and When Created Quantstamp?

Quantstamp founders, Richard Ma and Steven Stewart

Quantstamp was founded by Richard Ma and Steven Stewart in June 2017. 
Richard Ma, co-founder, and CEO of Quantstamp is a former Software Engineer and Senior Quantitative Strategist at Tower Research where he developed software that handled millions of dollars using automated high-frequency strategies. 
Ma also worked as a Quant Derivatives Trader at Archleon Group, he was a Portfolio Manager at Palladion Capital, and he’s a member of the Forbes Technology Council and serves as the Co-Chair of Smart Contract Alliance for the Chamber of Digital Commerce. 
Following these experiences, he was inspired to found Quantstamp after investing in the infamous DAO which was hacked due to a combination of vulnerabilities.
Steven Stewart co-founder and CTO of Quantstamp previously worked as a Software Engineer and Computer Systems Analyst at the Canadian Department of National Defense. He also co-founded Many Trees Inc., a GPU computing startup, and worked as a Software Developer at Magnetic Forensics.
Apart from Quantstamp’s brilliant founders, its team is made up of PhDs, security professionals, and operators who come from companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, Goldman Sachs, BMW, Visa, IDG Ventures, and MathWorks.
As well, the Quanstamp team has a combined total of over 1000 Google Scholar citations.

3. What is $QSP Token Used For?

Quanstamp (QSP) logo

The native cryptocurrency of the Quantstamp protocol is $QSP and it has the following use cases: 

• Payment for Quantstamp services
• Automated Software Verification
• Automated Bounty Payout System
• Governance

Payment for Quantstamp Services
Blockchain projects and smart contract developers can pay for Quantstamp’s auditing and verification services with $QSP tokens. These services include: Expert Security Audits, Enterprise Blockchain Design & Implementation, and Automatic Smart Contract Scans.
Automated Software Verification
When the Quantstamp protocol receives automated auditing requests, validation nodes can start performing security checks to validate the smart contract. These nodes must stake QSP to ensure they don’t act maliciously and for their computational effort, they are rewarded with QSP tokens. 
Automated Bounty Payout System
When a smart contract is submitted for auditing by the Quantstamp protocol, it must include a set of QSP tokens for bounty rewards and a deadline for when Bug Finders can submit issues. If no bugs are found by the deadline, the QSP bounty reward is returned. 
Governance
QSP token holders hold governance rights over the Quantstamp protocol. The governance model uses a time-locked multisig in which any token holder can propose a change or upgrade to the protocol in which other QSP token holders can vote on. The more approvals a proposal has, the sooner it can be set into motion.

4. What are the products of Quantstamp?

Quantstamp has 3 industry-leading blockchain products:

• Expert Blockchain Security Audits
• Automated Smart Contract Scans
• Express Enterprise Blockchain Solutions

Expert Blockchain Security Audits

(Source)

Quantstamp offers the most important blockchain-related businesses and cryptocurrency projects with highly sophisticated and in-depth security audits performed manually by Quantstamp’s core team. 
Included in this service is the auditing of a project’s consensus mechanisms, off-chain code, the networking stack, and complex smart contract systems. 
The customers who seek these manual security audits include both centralized and decentralized exchanges (ie. Binance, Crypto.com, Ampleforth); blockchain companies and cryptocurrency projects (ie. Chainlink, Maker, Wax); ecosystem projects (ie. ETH 2.0 deposit contracts, Beacon Chain simulation, OMG Plasma MVP); and more.  
Clients of Quantstamp’s expert security audits have the option to pay for the services in $QSP.

Automatic Smart Contract Scans

(Source)

Quantstamp offers clients automated smart contract scans via the Quantstamp Security Network V2. 
The Quantstamp network allows users to run decentralized scans on smart contracts for potential vulnerabilities and then stores a decentralized report of the results directly on the Ethereum blockchain.
With this product, smart contract developers can more easily, efficiently, and affordably validate their Solidity code with off-chain computation from Quantstamp auditor nodes. Developers can only pay for this service using QSP tokens because it’s completely automated and done on-chain.

Express Enterprise Blockchain Solutions

(Source)

Quantstamp offers enterprise clients fast, efficient, software-enabled solutions for their own proprietary enterprise blockchains. The offering includes everything from the blockchain idea to launch and includes the following steps:

• Project Consultation & Scoping (3 months)
• Technical Design and Architecture (3-6 months)
• Blockchain Implementation (3-6 months)
• Expert Security Auditing (2-4 months)

Thus far, Quantstamp has completed end-to-end blockchain implementations in the automotive industry, real estate, manufacturing, and governments.

5. What are some notable audits by Quantstamp?

(Source)

Quantstamp has protected over $5B in digital asset risk from hackers and has provided audits to more than 120 startups, foundations, and enterprises. 
Some of their most notable blockchain security audits include: 

• Teku - The Ethereum 2.0 client developed by ConsenSys
• Binance’s BGBP - Binance’s first stablecoin
• eToro’s eToken - A USD-denominated stablecoin built on the Libra Network
• Crypto.com Chain - Crypto.com’s next-generation public blockchain

Other Notable Quantstamp Security Audits

Exchanges & Decentralized Finance

• Binance
• eToro
• Sharespost
• Crypto.com
• NUO
• Ampleforth
• Lendroid
• MakerDAO Grantees
• LimePay
• Pool Together
• Rockstable

Blockchain Companies

• Chainlink
• OmiseGO
• Mainframe
• Carry Protocol
• Wanchain
• Wax
• Request Network
• GoExchange
• QuarkChain
• CoinZoom
• Metaps Ecosystem
• Shyft Network
• Edgeware Lockdrop
• Clear Markets

Ecosystem Projects

• OMG Plasma MVP
• ETH 2.0 Deposit Contracts
• Beacon Chain Simulation

6. Where to Store $QSP?

MetaMask website homepage

Quantstamp (QSP) is an ERC-20 token residing on top of the public Ethereum blockchain. That said, you can store QSP in any ERC-20 token supported wallet.
However, the best wallets for storing QSP are non-custodial Web3 wallets that provide seamless access to the best DeFi applications, like Uniswap. That said, DeFi wallets are the best for storing QSP because the token can be used within the Ethereum-DeFi ecosystem. 

Popular Quantstamp (QSP) Wallets:

• Trust Wallet (mobile)
• Argent (mobile)
• Coinbase Wallet (mobile)
• Ledger Nano S (hardware)
• Metamask (web)

In addition to the above-listed wallets, Qantstamp (QSP) can be stored on a wide variety of other reputable wallets supporting ERC-20 tokens.

7. Where to Buy & Sell $QSP?

Quantstamp (QSP) can be bought and sold on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis but the most popular way to buy, sell, or trade $QSP is through centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
You can buy and sell QSP with cryptocurrency or fiat currency at the following top DEXes and exchanges. In most cases, you will be able to buy QSP with BTC, ETH, or stablecoins.

• Binance - BTC, ETH
• Huobi Global - BTC
• Uniswap - WETH
• Gate.io - ETH, USDT
• GOPAX - KRW

In addition to the exchanges listed above, Quantstamp (QSP) is also traded on a variety of other exchanges and platforms that enable people to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies.
Hope you enjoyed that read, Let me know if I have missed something in the comments.
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