Quark vs. Bitcoin
We all agree that Bitcoin has paved the way for other crypto currencies to enter the market. The question is how are these new currencies different or any better? Below is a running discussion on Bitcoin vs. Quark and how they differ. We’ll let you decide which makes the better currency…
Security
Bitcoin
Like most crypto currencies Bitcoin uses a single Hash function or SHA-2.
Quark
Quark is super secure and uses a different hashing algorithm with 9 rounds of hashing from 6 unique hashing functions (blake, groestl, blue midnight wish, jh, SHA-3, skein). 3 rounds deliver a random hashing function. Even though most believe the SHA2 is sufficient at present, technology is always changing and improving. Just one of Quark's algos, SHA-3, was developed after SHA-2 in case it was somehow comprised in the future. The multiple hash gives a further layer of security against unknowns that will enter the market down the road.
Mining
Bitcoin
One block every 10 minutes (very slow transaction time).
Current bounty is 25 BTC halved every 210,000.
Total currency supply is capped at 21 million.
What started out as being CPU mined, has quickly led to a race to secure ever faster mining hardware. CPUs went to GPUs then to FPGA, and finally to ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) designed and built only for mining bitcoins. It is virtually impossible to mine Bitcoins anymore without serious capital and hardware. You hear of the complaint that 98% of Quark has been mined already. You can say the same about bitcoin, considering only large server farms can compete in mining the coin. You will find that the barrier to entry in bitcoin mining is huge!
Quark
Generates a new block every 30 seconds. (very fast)
2048 QRK per block (halving every 60480 blocks ~ 3 weeks).
247 million mined the first 6 months, then 1 million QRK every year.
The .5% inflation was created to keep mining activity going and to keep the block chain resistant against 51% attacks to which Bitcoin is vulnerable. Being only CPU mined, this coin offers the average individual the rewards of mining. Also, because of its 6 hashing functions, Quark is ASIC proof, making it too costly and near impossible to develop an ASIC to mine Quark. It was setup to be mined/minted by your average computer.
Speed
Bitcoin
We've all heard time is money, and if you have moved bitcoins around, you will know that it is lacking in fast transaction and confirmation times. One of litecoins main features to rival Bitcoin was that is changed its confirmation times. Take a look at this source and scroll down to confirmation times.
Although it is constantly in a state of flux, at the time of this writing Bitcoin's average confirmation time is 7.41 minutes.
Quark
Speed is one feature where Quark really shines. From the same source above, Quark's average confirmation time is a blazing .64 minutes or less than 40 seconds! Go ahead download the wallet and move some Quarks around, you'll be impressed by how fast they transfer. When it comes to business, speed is essential and synonymous with money! Here is a little infographic we did to compare Quark's speed with a few other cryptos.
Distribution
Bitcoin
In the beginning Bitcoin was mined for several years by only around 30-40 people. Currently, it is virtually impossible for a single individual to mine Bitcoin. KnCminer just released a new Miner and sold out in 24 hours selling all 1200 units at over $10,000 each. (Link). That company also claims that their hardware users are responsible for over 70% of all mined bitcoins everyday ... good luck competing with that!
So the only option currently is to buy BitCoin at ~$1000USD. As the mining continues to intensify, more and more BTC blocks will fall into the hands of the few with lots of capital and hardware. Bottom line is from a mining point of view, BTC is becoming more and more centralized.
Not only that it is said that the top 100 BitCoin holders control 21% of the market (Link) This is just the minimum as each entity can have multiple addresses. Bitcoin distribution is very uneven or centralized, as it has been rumored that only 50 people hold 60-70% of Bitcoin!
Quark
Distribution is Quarkcoin's strong point, although some will argue the opposite. Since Quark Coins were mined by CPU only, it was done by individuals at home numbering in the 1,000's (link) as opposed to Bitcoins being mined by very few.
Setting the time to mine most coins within the first 6 months discourages the ASIC miners from ever entering the market.
With a majority of the coins mined, the price should hopefully stabilize more quickly than the other coins with longer time frames, making this crypto currency more desirable for everyday transactions.
But what about argument that 'the vast majority of the 245 million Quarks already mined are in the hands of the few? If you take the time to read through the Quark Thread over on Bitcointalk.org, you will see that most miners dumped their coins early on. It traded so low, that early miners didn't want to hold onto their Quark, thus the distribution began. When the coin was first listed on the Cryptsy exchange, massive amounts of Quark traded hands with huge volume ... the miners dumping the coin.
Was Quark premined? No, if you do some research you will find that it was not. Quark's mining schedule was developed to be quick to get it out of the hands of the miners and into investors as soon as possible. This has been accomplished. People buying Quark now are looking to invest for the long-term, not mine it and dump as the mentality for most coins these days. Read some of the comments on Reddit where a user asks this same question (Link).
Economics
Bitcoin
One weakness of bitcoin is the limited coin supply. A total cap of only 21 million bitcoins will ever be released, up until the year 2040. This sets it up for deflationary pressures which causes demand to always trump supply. There is more incentive to buy and hold than to spend, so from this point of view it can never truly be a viable currency in day-to-day transactions.
Once the cap is in at 21 million, there will be a decreasing amount of coins in circulation. Every year coins will be 'lost' through forgotten passwords, hard drive failures, hackers, software failures, improper backups, etc ... This will cause the supply to decrease overtime.
Quark
Although there is no ideal, Quarkcoin will continue to release coins in perpetuity after the initial 247 million are mined at an inflation rate of .5% per year. This encourages continued mining as well as more use as a day-to-day transactional currency. This small inflation is meant to replace those 'lost' coins due to human error and hardware failure etc.... Also, even though any crypto currency can be divided infinitesimally, people prefer to buy and transact in whole numbers. Ask someone if they want to buy bitcoin at $1000, and they believe it may be too expensive although you can buy just .1 BTC if you choose. This is more of a psychological issue.
Here is a great infographic to describe the differences, share please!
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