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 OS is the world’s first DLT operating system 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.
Overledger OS 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 OS does not interact with the various ledgers at the application layer, it sits on top of them. Making Overledger OS flexible, scalable, futureproof and able to interact with many different ledgers at the same time.
Overledger OS allows the interoperation of any type of data, state changes, smart contracts, IDs, or digital assets (fungible and non-fungible) between ledgers. It provides enterprise and developers with what Quant calls “universal interoperability”. Our technology is inspired by the TCP/IP model, on which today’s internet is built.
No. Overledger OS is an Operating System which connects distributed ledger technologies, including blockchains, together.
mApps are the multichain version of decentralised applications (‘dApps’), which are limited to interaction with a single specific ledger. mApps 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 OS enables Smart Contracts to be written in any programming language on any DLT – including DLTs that do not natively support Smart Contracts. mApps are designed to greatly expand user reach for Enterprises and developers, prevent vendor lock-ins and achieve horizonal scaling.
Treaty Contracts are multichain Smart Contracts which govern the interactions between on-chain 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. Treaty Contracts are a unique feature of Quant’s Overledger OS, which can can be used as part of Overledger mApps.
Overledger OS 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 mApps. All properties (e.g. consensus, scalability, security etc.) of the underlying ledgers remain unchanged when interacting with Overledger OS.
Currently, Overledger OS supports the “Enterprise 5”: Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda, Ethereum, JPM Quorum and XRP ledger. Overledger OS 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.
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 OS was designed to eliminate the complexity of interacting with DLTs and to easily integrate with enterprise systems, platforms and APIs.
Overledger OS allows for the creation of mApps 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 Treaty Contracts, which offer multichain Smart Contract capabilities. Further, Overledger OS 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 – the world’s first hyper-decentralised computer network which uses multiple distributed ledgers simultaneously.
We have designed a Blockchain Programming Interface (‘BPI’) which provides a single 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 OS. Existing infrastructures do not need to be modified to integrate with our technology.
This is due to security requirements. Large-scale DLT implementations by the world’s largest institutions require the highest level of security and resiliency – especially for critical infrastructures. This, combined with increasingly strict compliance and risk management policies, requires Quant to maintain a closed-source system. However, Quant’s roadmap includes making Overledger OS connectors open-source, to allow interested parties to contribute to the code, as well as to create new connectors. This will help expand the reach of the network further, benefiting both enterprise users and developers.
Overledger Network is a network of networks which connects participants in a safe and secure manner through the use of Overledger OS 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.
Overledger OS gateways are hosted by Overledger Network participants, and act as a portal for safe interaction with other network participants. There are two types of gateways: enterprise gateways and community gateways. Community gateways provide access to the permissio less blockchains supported by Overledger. Their hosts can create nodes for one or more public ledgers and participate in the network. Enterprise gateways are used to connect safely to other enterprise gateways which are part of the network, as well as to permission-less systems through community gateways. 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 OS gateways can also host services outside of the DLT scope and charge users accordingly.
