Quant Network announced new cross-chain treaty contracts partnership with HAW Hamburg University at Unlock 2018, Dubai

Quant Network – international, innovation technology company announced a new partnership with HAW Hamburg University to create the framework of cross-chain treaty contracts to be launched in conjunction with their highly anticipated blockchain operating system - Overledger. 

This also follows on from the Quant Network team also joining the Accord Project’s international working groups dedicated to establishing standardisation, of smart contracts or using Overledger. 

“One of the principles of Overledger is to foster innovation by creating true multi-chain applications and this partnership with HAW Hamburg University will ensure we will help us achieve this,” explains Quant CEO and co-founder and founder of ISO Standard TC307, the Blockchain ISO Standard, Gilbert Verdian.

A major limitation of modern-day blockchain technology that both Verdian and co-founder, Executive Director, UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, Dr. Paolo Tasca, identified early on has been the limitation of smart contracts to be recognised on multiple blockchains. 

“We asked ourselves - why a smart contract executed on Ethereum can’t be recognized by the Hyperledger blockchain? Additionally why can’t the smart contract include code executed on other blockchains as part of its process?” explained Tasca at the Unblock 2018 conference in Dubai.

“The answer didn’t easily present itself and any comparisons made to existing UK and EU and contract laws and regulations for cross-border transactions proved futile as most revert back to a local law or court. However, we were able to draw parallels from more international conventions or treaties such Berne Convention of 1886 for the protection of literary and artistic works.”

Executing smart contracts across multiple block-chains is a complex challenge and explains why Verdian and Tasca prefer the term “Treaty Contracts” in place of smart contracts. The complexity and challenges are also why the team have partnered with Prof. Dr.Ing.Volker Skwarek from HAW Hamburg University to not only create the framework of cross-chain Treaty contracts to be part of Overledger but to empower blockchains with an algorithmic constitution which supports legal frameworks in contractual agreements.

The underlying operating system of Overledger will allow the transferability, recognition and execution of smart contracts from one blockchain to another. The Overledger operating systems has been designed during the last 12 months by the Quant Network team composed of Colin Paterson, Gaetano Mondelli, Gilbert Verdian and Paolo Tasca.

The technical white paper will be released to the public in January 2018.