A chain built for the quantum era is picking its first exchange

@QuantusNetwork has named @NEARProtocol's NEAR Intents as the first exchange venue for its native coin $QTC. No listing date has been confirmed, but the announcement marks the project's first public step toward open trading.

A mainnet built around quantum resistance

The Quantus chain went live on September 9 as a proof-of-work network with one distinguishing design choice at its core: every transaction is signed using ML-DSA, the post-quantum digital signature standard that NIST finalized in 2024. The concern driving that decision is straightforward. The elliptic-curve cryptography that secures most existing blockchains will become breakable once quantum computers reach sufficient scale, at which point every network relying on it will need to migrate and users will need to move assets to new addresses. Quantus argues it sidesteps that future problem by building on ML-DSA from day one.

The chain uses both ML-DSA-65 and ML-DSA-87 to verify transaction signatures and guard against quantum-enabled tampering. The trade-off is transaction size: Quantus ML-DSA transactions weigh in at around 7 KB, compared with roughly 100 bytes for a typical Bitcoin transaction. The network addresses this through native transaction aggregation, posting succinct proofs on-chain and becoming more efficient as volume increases.

The network is secured by proof-of-work and distributes $QTC through open mining with no built-in advantage for Quantus Labs. The coin supply is capped at 21 million. Before launch, Neodyme, Eiger, Hashcloak, and V12 reviewed the network, while Immunefi hosted a public audit competition.

Why NEAR Intents as the first venue

Rather than listing on a traditional centralized exchange, Quantus is routing $QTC through NEAR Intents, a protocol with a notably different structure. NEAR Intents is a multichain transaction protocol where users specify what they want and let third parties compete to provide the best solution. As a protocol, NEAR Intents does not hold user funds or operate as a traditional exchange. Instead, it facilitates peer-to-peer settlement between intent creators and liquidity providers, making it suitable for integration across wallets, aggregators, and DeFi platforms.

The choice reflects a broader pattern in how newer chains are approaching early liquidity. Intent-based protocols offer a path to trading without the custody requirements or listing fees typically associated with centralized venues. Whether the venue can generate meaningful volume for a newly launched proof-of-work coin remains to be seen. A listing date has not been announced.

Sources:
Bitcoin.com News: Quantus Targets $2.7 Trillion Crypto Risk With Quantum-Safe Mainnet
NEAR Protocol: NEAR Intents Official Documentation