Q: a decentralized protocol
Decentralization has been the north star for Q from the earliest days of the project. As is stated in the very first sentence of the Q white paper, Q “combines the benefits of a public, open and decentralized ledger with the transparency and reliability of enforceable private contracts”.
The white paper not only start with establishing that Q is set up as a decentralized project, it also ends with outlining the path on how to achieve this: section 7.6 – titled “Decentralization” – explains that the term does not describe an absolute state of affairs. Rather, decentralization should be thought of as a spectrum along which projects can be positioned. No system can be fully decentralized from the very beginning. Even Bitcoin started out with someone publishing the code and mining the first block and was quite centralized in its first years of existence. Therefore, the direction in which a project moves on the decentralization spectrum is important.
Q International Foundation’s role and mission
The Q white paper also outlines the role of Q International Foundation (see section 4.7 “Q Foundation”). Here, it is stated that
“The ultimate goal of the Q Foundation is to lead Q towards full decentralization and eventually not be necessary and disappear.”
Q International Foundation is fully committed to this goal. The spirit of the white paper is reflected in the Foundation’s mission, which states that its purpose is “[…] the promotion, (further) development and protection of open decentralized technologies, applications and organizational units […]”.
The spirit of decentralization is also reflected in the Foundation’s setup as an ownerless non-profit entity. In contrast to many other project structures, there is no separate “Labs” company with equity owned by founders or outside investors. This structure ensures that the Foundation is only bound by its mission to support decentralized systems. It does not suffer from the conflicts of interest which are present in so many other structures. Even if current management of the Foundation wanted to pursue other goals or to act in their own self-interest, they could not do so. The structure simply does not allow for it.
Moreover, the Foundation does not have any governance privileges. While it is the formal initiator of the project, it is not a part of the Q protocol and does not control any protocol elements via admin keys or similar features.
In summary, the primary goal of the Q International Foundation is to promote the further decentralization of Q. But before we explain what this means in practice, let’s take a short detour to examine why decentralization matters in the first place.
Why decentralization matters
Decentralization is not a goal in itself, it is a means to an end. Through decentralization, distributed systems can obtain the following attributes:
- Censorship resistance: it is impossible, or at least very hard, to exclude specific transactions from being processed as long as they comply with the rules of the system.
- Protection against internal and external capture: the system abides by its own rules, including rules on how to change the system. These rules cannot easily be captured or abused by specific parties; thereby, the system attains autonomy.
- Openness and permissionless access: anyone can use and build on the system without requiring the consent of another party.
- Credible neutrality: there is no single party which can dominate the system and unilaterally decide on system parameters or the direction which the development of the system takes.
When done right, decentralization leads to very strong guarantees that the system cannot be corrupted. In practice, this means that the system’s own rules, which can be observed by anyone, will be upheld and enforced. Effectively, decentralized blockchain-based systems do what legal systems do: they enforce rules. In fact, they do so with a much higher level of predictability and reliability.
A corollary of this is that decentralized systems can convey much stronger property rights than centralized systems. With property rights being one of the major drivers of economic growth and prosperity, decentralized systems can therefore dramatically increase the economic welfare of the people and organizations which are using them. The abstract concept of decentralization has therefore very real positive consequences.
What is decentralization?
But what does decentralization actually mean? As stated in the Q white paper, the term is somewhat fuzzy and often misunderstood. There is no clear-cut definition, and it might mean somewhat different things depending on the context.
In our view, two aspects are critical:
- Decentralization is not absolute. We can think of decentralization as a continuous spectrum. A system can be more or less decentralized along this spectrum, which also means that the attributes as described above will be achieved to varying degrees, depending on where on the spectrum a system is positioned.
- There is no single criterion defining decentralization. In fact, there are multiple aspects that determine the level of overall decentralization of a system, and the composition and relative importance of these aspects can vary depending on the nature of the system.
With this in mind, we have created a list of the key criteria that we believe define the level of decentralization for the Q Protocol:
| Technology | No admin keys or multisigs required for code upgrades or selection of critical system parametersProtocol code is open-sourceFull access to git repos |
| Economics | Tokens are increasingly widely distributed Protocol token is easily available, making it possible for anyone to use and contribute to the protocolThe protocol is viable on a stand-alone basis and does not need continuous external funding to function as-is |
| Infrastructure & tooling | Front-end: Multiple access points and/or open-source decentralized frontendsClient: Multiple clientsRPC endpoints: No dependence on specific supplier or operatorProper documentation, enabling anyone with appropriate skill-level to use and contribute to the protocol |
| Protocol participants | High number of independently funded contributors Broad governance participation Geographic, jurisdictional and infrastructure diversity of nodes No person or entity has special governance privilegesNo single application is dominant on protocol Large token holders transparently disclose voting policies – no “gaming” of votes, e.g. via last-minute voting or “fake delegation” of voting power |
| Community & communication | Multiple websites, ideally open-source Multiple community-operated communication channels, no centralized “official” communication channelLack of key person(s) that is regarded as having dominating influenceBrand assets (if any) are legally structured in a way that prevents abuse by single party |
This list contains both hard and soft factors that contribute to the effective decentralization of a protocol. For example, whether there are admin keys is a hard factor, since the answer is either yes or no (in case you’re wondering: Q is admin-key-free), and IF there are admin keys that can perform arbitrary code upgrades, we can conclude that the protocol is not decentralized. On the other hand, the availability of proper documentation is a soft factor: Even if there is no documentation, anyone can still use the protocol and contribute to it as long as the code is open source. However, it does make it much harder to contribute to the protocol, which does have a negative effect on decentralization in practice.
This list is neither final nor authoritative – it is meant as a reference point for the Foundation itself, guiding us on the aspects of decentralization we should monitor and support, but also as input for further discussions with the broader Q community. As stated before, the Foundation does not hold any privileges when it comes to the governance of the Q Protocol, and everyone in the community can contribute to the further decentralization of Q.
Recent progress in decentralizing the Q Protocol
So let’s take stock: Where does Q stand in terms of decentralization?
We believe that in 2024, the Q community has made significant progress in pushing the decentralization of the protocol. These efforts have been supported by Q International Foundation. Among the many contributions, we would like to highlight the following:
Listing of QGOV tokens
With the listing of QGOV tokens and – maybe even more importantly – on decentralized exchanges, anyone can now easily gain access to QGOV tokens and participate in the Q Protocol. This includes access to protocol governance decisions.
Development funding for Q
The diversity of funding for the development of the Q Protocol and adjacent infrastructure has made a great leap forward, mainly thanks to web3.org. The company, which is independently funded and has no relation to Q International Foundation, actively supports the development of Q. They have not only made a generous donation to the Q International Foundation – they have also committed funding to the tune of 5 million USD for the development of Q:
Root node diversity
The Q Root Node panel boasts 27 members with highly diverse backgrounds. Root nodes are present in 14 jurisdictions on six continents. Geographic and jurisdictional diversity is often overlooked, but is a key factor for protocols that aim to be truly decentralized.
The way forward: How Q International Foundation supports decentralization
Coming back to the statement of the Q white paper, we can confidently say that the direction in which Q is headed is the right one. The actions and contributions of the Q community in 2024 have significantly increased the level of decentralization of Q, and the relative importance of the Foundation has decreased as a result.
However, decentralization is an ongoing effort. As Q International Foundation, we will continue to support measures that further decentralize Q. Focus areas will include the decentralization of QGOV token ownership, the diversification of community communication channels and the security and censorship resistance of protocol-adjacent infrastructure. Of course, there are many other aspects of decentralization that the community can work on. We very much look forward to receiving input from the Q community and discussing ways in which Q International Foundation can support the decentralization of Q.
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