Qtum blockchain completes a hard fork of its testnet before launching its mainnet hard fork, QTUM/USD is under heavy beariish control

Proof-of-Stake blockchain Qtum has completed a hard fork of its testnet in preparation for the launch of its mainnet hard fork. According to a Cointelegraph report, the upgrade went live on the testnet at block 625,000 and officially introduced offline staking in Qtum.

The testnet event - scheduled to start on July 6 - is the last stage before Qtum launches its mainnet hard fork, which is expected to take place in August or at block height 680,000. The firm has claimed that over 300 network participants have earned almost 1,000 QTUM through staking. It said: 

Offline staking is one of the biggest changes to the Qtum protocol to date. Up until now, Qtum has allowed Proof-of-Stake consensus staking only from online nodes that secure and operate the blockchain. As a result, QTUM holders who did not want to run a full node had security concerns, or struggled to meet the resource and power requirements were unable to participate in staking.

The co-founder of Qtum, Patrick Dai, said that a Testnet Stake-a-Thon will give people interested in blockchain a chance to learn more about concepts like super stakers, address delegation, “and how easy it can be to participate in the consensus of a global network.”

QTUM/USD daily chart

QTU/USD dropped further down from $0.1663 to $0.1623. QTUM faces strong resistance at $1.67, $1.69 (SMA 50), $1.70 (SMA 20), $1.734 and $1.743 (SMA 200). On the downside, healthy support lies a t$1.62 and $1.575. The Elliott Oscillator has had six straight red sessions of increasing intensity.