Quant (QNT) Crypto takes a breather after rising to new annual highs

What happened

One of the only cryptocurrencies to make new annual highs recently is Quant (QNT -2.72%). Despite a 6.2% drop over the past 24 hours, as of 1pm ET today, this token is actually up 11.7% so far this year at the time of writing. That’s a pretty incredible feat, considering most tokens are significantly reduced (50% or more) on a year-over-year basis.

Quant’s rise appears to be tied to interest in this project’s Overledger technology, the first operating system ever designed to allow blockchains to talk to each other. This technology is reportedly seen by central banks as useful for central bank digital currency (CBDC) development, a hot button topic right now. In fact, Quant wrote about Overledger’s potential to be used in CBDCs in a detailed research paper on the subject.

Today’s downside is one we haven’t seen in a long time. For now, it looks like this token is taking a breather after relatively steady moves higher in recent weeks.

So what

Interoperability is a big buzzword in the crypto space. In layman’s terms, interoperability is essentially the ability for different blockchain technologies to communicate with each other. With each crypto project taking on unique code and methodology, developing a way for these siled technologies to interact has been a very difficult problem to solve.

Quant’s Overledger technology is groundbreaking in many ways. However, it hasn’t really caught on with investors until recently. Continuous headlines about more and more central banks exploring the possibility of a CBDC and going so far as to run pilots suggest that Quant’s technology could become very valuable to governments looking to enter the crypto space.

What now

The question of how to value cryptocurrencies, as representative of the value of their underlying technology, is one that will continue to rage. Whether Overledger is eventually approached to be purchased by one or more central banks or simply comes to an agreement with central banks on fees charged to integrate this technology with future CBDCs, there is likely to be a lucrative future for this project. At least that’s what the market is pricing in right now.

I think Quant is certainly a token worth watching as governments around the world consider the potential of digital currencies. Crypto is going mainstream, and Quant may be the key technology that enables mass adoption of digital currencies after all.