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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.qbtc.net/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

QBTC consensus is CometBFT, forked to use ML-DSA signatures instead of Ed25519. The economic layer is standard Cosmos x/staking and x/distribution. The only QBTC-specific consensus addition is the ebifrost module’s handling of attested Bitcoin block ingestion.

Consensus engine

The chain depends on github.com/btcq-org/cometbft, a fork of CometBFT that replaces Ed25519 with ML-DSA throughout the consensus signing path. See Quantum Resistance (ML-DSA) for details.

Validator set

Validators bond QBTC via the standard Cosmos x/staking module. The validator set is selected by bonded stake, with the maximum size and slashing parameters configured at genesis.
  • Bonding: standard x/staking semantics.
  • Slashing: standard x/slashing for double-signing and downtime.
  • Unbonding period: parameter at genesis (typically 21 days for Cosmos chains; final value TBD before mainnet).
  • Validator consensus key: ML-DSA.
  • Validator operator key: standard Cosmos signing curve.

Validator responsibilities

In addition to standard Cosmos validator duties, QBTC validators also:
  1. Run a bifrost sidecar that watches a Bitcoin full node and gossips signed BTC blocks to peers. See Architecture for the data flow.
  2. Attest to ingested BTC blocks. The ebifrost module aggregates these attestations; a block is ingested into QBTC state once more than 2/3 of bonded validator power has attested.

Validator rewards

Validators earn from the Reserve Module (drawn down per the chain’s emission formula) plus transaction fees. There is no inflationary minting. See Tokenomics and the Protocol Specification §2.5.

Governance

Standard Cosmos x/gov. Proposals follow the standard voting period, deposit requirements, and threshold rules. No custom QBTC governance logic.
Last modified on May 25, 2026