About

Quai Network is a Layer-1 blockchain utilizing a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Entropy-Minima (PoEM). It features a multi-chain architecture with three tiers, Prime, Region, and Zone chains, operating concurrently to process transactions.

The system employs merged mining, where miners secure multiple chains simultaneously, and sharding to distribute workload across sub-chains. This design supports a throughput of up to 50,000 TPS with block times averaging 1.1 seconds. Quai Network is EVM compatible, enabling smart contract deployment and decentralized application development.

It operates a dual-token system: QUAI, the utility token for transactions and governance, and QI, an energy-cost-linked token intended as a decentralized stablecoin.

History

Quai Network officially began development in 2020, led by a team of blockchain and cryptography experts aiming to build a scalable, secure, decentralized Proof-of-Work blockchain ecosystem. The design pioneered the concept of an energy-backed stablecoin $QI, focusing on integrating real-world energy costs into tokenomics. The project traced its origins to a University of Texas research initiative (2019), then launched sequential public testnets branded as "Stone Age," "Bronze Age," and "Golden Age" for consensus and scalability validation.

In 2022, Quai raised $8M from Polychain Capital and $2M from Alumni Ventures, providing runway for protocol development and expanding the team. This was later followed by another $2M in funding from Alumni Ventures Group in May of the same year. Up to 2024, Quai executed multiple large-scale testnets, attracting global developer and miner participation. The Golden Age testnet saw 2,000+ nodes, 42,000 GPUs, and 110,000 wallets.

In January 2025, Quai Network launched its mainnet with a dual-token system: $QUAI (utility/governance token) and $QI (energy-backed stablecoin), marking a major technical and economic innovation. In April 2025, $QI officially began mining operations. The token issuance method involved no initial supply, strictly reflecting live mining activity (lockup periods enforced). By September, Quai Network powered applications such as Kipper (social payments) and BlipPay (real-world crypto transactions) following the mainnet launch. Furthermore, the team partnered with Wormhole to enable multichain interoperability, reflecting a strategy to support cross-chain dApps and user migration. At the same time, the project partnered with Zebec.