Layer1 battles continue- not sure we're getting anywhere.

What about the decentralization and maintaining security long term? How much should one pay for that? What about usage and what metrics can you trust? What about bad actors and whales manipulating us (and the metrics)? What about memes and ordinals and how they skew that actual utility? What about continued exploits and hacks? What about environmental costs? What should the crypto actually be used for? Is layer2 an answer? The list goes on.

I'd love to sort it all out and find which one to latch onto. But I've followed a few people who have lived and breathed crypto for years, and it's clear these debates will continue for some time.

Personally, I think that makes it very hard for any single one to really make an explosive move to the top.

Not financial advice, but these ongoing debates led me to find Qanplatform/QANX. The founder's focus was really looking at what barriers have prevented business from truly engaging in blockchain, and I think they are and have been focused on the right things to enable real adoption.

Like above, we can argue all day about whether QANX will achieve that or not, but my take is if you are capable and keep working toward the right vision, it certainly is possible.

Some key items to consider:

1. They have been protecting IP that enables coding Smart Contracts in any language
   1. I think this is game changing, and for those that can code, you can set up a privatenet to start trying that out. They made that publicly available in the last few months. It is evm compatible, so solidity is an option.
2. It is only at 50M marketcap
3. They recently landed 15M in SeriesA funding with MBK, which also opens up solid connections.
4. They reduced excess supply as a result of discussions with their partners. The project wallets hold less than 1/4 setting them up to launch with decentralized goveernance.
   1. Effectively all supply is available, but until they team uses some of those funds, it won't show as circulating.
5. They are working to get the supply numbers updated on CG/CMC. You will also notice it shows a flatline from Oct 22 - March1. They halted trading due to an exploit. No one who tried to buy during that time was restored with the new contract. So, it looks like you missed the 1000x, but you didn't.
   1. Gasp, an exploit?! Yes, they used a vanity address generator that had been around a long time. This burned several projects, and they detailed what happened. In the end they restored all holders. A valuable lesson, and a show of integrity. Also showed me they won't be deterred from reaching their goals.
6. They have an official partner of Alpine Esports, along with several auditing firms. They mentioned MBK during a privatenet launch event, along with IBM and Pankl racing. It is unclear what may result from IBM/Pankl but clearly MBK agreement was reached, so I'm keeping an eye on that.
7. Quantum resistance. They saw that this must be accounted for. People are slowly realizing that quantum is coming fast (billions being spent) and people are finding more efficient algos that can work with quantum computing.
   1. People get mad on this- but it's not as complicated as we think. Most systems are starting to prepare, as there are ways to protect against it. NIST has guidelines published for implementing security even a quantum computer can't decrypt.
   2. If you value security, even if you think there is the tiniest chance of an issue, you should be ready for it. It's that simple.

Maybe I'll add more info in the comments. Again, not financial advice, but I have been following this project and the vision and the founders outlook is what keeps me coming back. Cheers and I hope all of crypto has a successful 2024!

Edit: Was asked how Qanx addresses some of the questions I raised up top. Sharing that answer:

Good question- I suppose I should have gone there.
I do like the proof of randomness consensus. Unlike POS or POW, the biggest stake or biggest mining pool won't be able to potentially control the network. They still may get the best rewards for participating, but the validation will be randomly assigned preventing that potential attack

Overall, it will be a lower barrier to become a validator, so that moves toward better decentralization.
Also should address environmental concerns.

They won't need an L2 with the hybrid approach as transactions that don't require worldwide consensus can be done privately, but posted to public chain when that is the desired outcome.

Quantum resistance is one known security risk, and almost no one seems to be accounting for it.

As for memes and ordinals, I'm not aware of a way to address that.

Oh, and if you check out librescan- they created it. It is a decentralized explorer. Right now our current explorers are centralized creating a weak point.

I'd say that's a decent list, but my goal wasn't to get into all these debates lol.