FAQ – Quantpedia

Who is Quant?

Quant is a technology provider, delivering enterprise-grade interoperability for the secure exchange of information and digital assets across any network, platform or protocol, at scale. Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway is the world’s first enterprise DLT Gateway that complements and connects existing systems and DLTs, to drive innovative and efficient growth for companies, public entities, and regulatory bodies alike. Headquartered in London, UK, Quant is recognised as a Gartner Cool Vendor 2019, and is committed to unleashing the power of systems that are as connected as the world we live in.

How deep does the interoperability of Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway go?

Overledger DLT Gateway adds no additional DLT, consensus, bottleneck, complexity, fork requirements or single point of failure in the communication between the various ledgers. This is because Overledger DLT Gateway does not interact with the various ledgers at the application layer, it sits on top of them. Making Overledger DLT Gateway flexible, scalable, future proof and able to interact with many different ledgers at the same time. Overledger provides a straightforward REST API for interacting with and across DLT Gateways, and standardised object model that just works across the whole range of DLTs, making the creation of Dapps and mDapps vastly easier.

How scalable is Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway?

Overledger DLT Gateway allows the interoperation of any type of data, state changes, smart contracts, IDs, or digital assets (fungible and non-fungible) between ledgers. It provides enterprises and developers with what Quant calls “universal interoperability”. Our technology is inspired by the TCP/IP model, on which today’s internet is built.

What are mDapps?

mDapps are the multi-DLT version of decentralised applications (‘Dapps’ – which are limited to interaction with a single specific ledger). mDapps expand the scope of decentralised applications beyond interaction with a single ledger, which enable users to benefit from the simultaneous use of multiple ledgers. In addition, Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway enables Smart Contracts to be written in any programming language on any DLT – including DLTs that do not natively support Smart Contracts. mDapps are designed to greatly expand user reach for Enterprises and developers, prevent vendor lock-ins and achieve horizontal scaling.

What are Multi-DLT Smart Contracts?

Multi-DLT Smart Contracts govern the interactions between on-chain Multi-DLT Smart Contracts in various distributed ledgers. They can be implemented off-chain or on-chain, and allow complex operations between different DLT technologies, such as cross-chain atomic swaps and Multi-Ledger Tokens. Multi-DLT Smart Contracts are a unique feature of Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway, which can be used as part of Overledger mDapps.

How scalable is Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway?

Overledger DLT Gateway is based on Kubernetes technology, which was originally designed by Google and is a highly-scalable system for automating application deployment, scaling and management. Overledger’s scalability is therefore only restricted by that of the underlying ledgers used by the respective mDapps. All properties (e.g. consensus, scalability, security etc.) of the underlying ledgers remain unchanged when interacting with Overledger DLT Gateway.

How many DLTs does Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway support?

Currently, Overledger DLT Gateway supports the “Enterprise 5”: Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda, Ethereum, JPM Quorum and XRP ledger. Overledger DLT Gateway also supports Bitcoin, Constellation, EOS, Stellar, IOTA and Binance Chain. Overledger’s ability to connect any DLT, both current and future, means that it provides a futureproof environment for enterprise users and developers.

Can Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway integrate with existing/legacy systems?

Yes. Quant realised early on that mass adoption of DLT technology was only possible through unrestricted interoperability between ledgers as well as existing/legacy systems. As a result, Overledger DLT Gateway was designed to eliminate the complexity of interacting with DLTs and to easily integrate with enterprise systems, platforms and APIs.

How does Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway maintain decentralisation?

Overledger DLT Gateway allows for the creation of mDapps which can read/write on many distributed ledgers simultaneously, and deploy the unique benefits and feature sets of DLT platforms, to deliver hyper-decentralisation possibilities. This is reinforced by multichain Smart Contracts. Further, Overledger DLT Gateway does not store information – it is an abstraction platform which orchestrates the interactions between the various ledgers. All information is also encrypted at source, so Quant cannot access any data flowing through the system. This has allowed Quant to design and develop Overledger Network.

How do I interact with Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway?

We have implemented a REST API and standardised object model which provides a simple interface that interacts with all supported DLTs. It takes only three lines of code, and less than 8 minutes, to get started with blockchains/DLTs through Overledger DLT Gateway. Existing infrastructures do not need to be modified to integrate with our technology.

Is Quant’s Overledger DLT Gateway a blockchain?

No. Overledger DLT Gateway is an API Gateway which connects distributed ledger technologies, including blockchains, together. It transforms data into DLT native formats, while providing developers with a straightforward API and object model, and providing business owners with access to a network of connected DLTs.

What is Quant’s Overledger Network?

Overledger Network is a network of networks which connects participants in a safe and secure manner through the use of Overledger DLT Gateways and Overledger Remote Connector Gateways. By connecting trusted ecosystems together, Overledger Network allows the secure exchange of data and value, regardless of underlying technology. Overledger Network aims to provide an extension to the current model of the Internet, to enable an Internet of value based on multiple distributed ledger technologies and hyper-decentralised applications.

What is a Quant‘s Overledger Remote Connector Gateway?

Overledger Remote Connector Gateways are hosted by Overledger Network participants, and act as a portal for safe interaction with other network participants. Remote Connector Gateways allow hosts to share access to their DLT nodes with Overledger DLT Gateways. There are two types of Remote Connectors Gateways (RCGs): enterprise RCGs and community RCGs. Community gateways provide access to the permissionless blockchains supported by Overledger. Their hosts can create nodes for one or more public ledgers and participate in the network. Enterprise RCGs are used to connect safely to private and permissioned DLTs which are part of the network. They enable enterprises to decentralise safely, and to eliminate the risk of opening their network to thousands of peer-to-peer connections. As they can connect any API, Overledger Remote Connector Gateways can also host non-DLT based services and charge users accordingly.