Qortal aims to provide truly decentralized blockchain features with a codebase written from scratch which will support a scalable infrastructure for a variety of revolutionary new concepts including:

• Website, blog, social media, and encrypted communication hosting
• Peer-to-peer (P2P) trade portal/truly decentralized exchange (DEX)
• Local wallets that eliminate the need for a centralized service
• State-of-the-art security and greater efficiency with data storage/usage
• Infrastructure for virtually any public or private application to be built securely
• A ‘minting’ distribution system to provide fair block rewards to everyone involved
• A voting system to make true decentralization possible and manageable
• A leveling system to credit user influence based on individual contribution
• A feature to create tokens for other projects which can be built on the chain
• Supporting hardware to provide router, node, wallet, and other blockchain solutions
• Mesh networking and satellite technology to provide decentralized service connections

Blockchain technology is an extremely useful tech that allows global validation and access unlike that of any other method. However, the majority of existing blockchains put focus solely on 'financial' transactions, ignoring the fact that a blockchain can be leveraged for much more. Even those that attempt to do more, normally do it in a way that still requires web2 requirements such as servers, DNS, domains, and more. Qortal, however, changes all of that, introducing a network that is:

• A system built by the people, for the people - to empower lives
• A place where free speech can thrive and data can be published without any censorship potential
• A stable and scalable infrastructure for both public and private applications
• A real ‘DEX’ or decentralized exchange for asset trading (without a central authority)
• A way for users to have complete control over their assets with better security
• A more efficient way to store data on the chain and be able to access data faster
• A block rewards system that distributes coins/tokens fairly (without expensive hardware)
• A voting system where the community’s voice is heard and determines the outcome
• Affordable hardware to support the chain and allow everyone to get involved

By leveraging the blockchain concept, and applying it more thoroughly to the digital world, Qortal provides a network unlike any other. A blockchain-secured content distribution and hosting network that requires zero centralized provider involvement.

Users run nodes, and those nodes are the entire network infrastructure, allowing users to take advantage of the same types of functionality that they enjoy on the centralized internet, but without the constant infringement, hacking, data theft, and additional issues brought on by the centralized providers and insecure methods leveraged therein.

Global users can now join a network that provides true solutions, not half-decentralized web2-hosted applications pretending to be decentralized. In short, Qortal will provide the foundation for solutions to the world's biggest digital issues. Qortal is able to provide a more secure way for websites, blogs, social media, communication, peer-to-peer (P2P) asset exchanges, wallet/asset storage, operating systems, cloud storage, internet service, and virtually any other aspect of the Internet to operate without a central authority requirement. Both public and private applications can be built on the Qortal Network.

The original Qortal code was a fork of a project called QORA that was launched in 2014. Due to multiple aspects of the QORA project not being built correctly, the project subsequently failed. Crowetic, of the Qortal Development Group, offered the QORA community a solution, to rebuild the project completely, resolving all of its issues, and adding a completely new design to existing functions, while providing a plethora of new features. This was agreed to by the QORA community, and crowetic set upon the task of pulling the original development group together, and getting the project moving. The original Qortal Codebase was created in 2016, and work commenced, after finalizing the overall concepts for the project. The rest, as they say, is history. The Qortal Blockchain Network had its Genesis in June of 2020, and has continually ran from that point, always moving forward as any true blockchain does. By 2025, all major milestones for the project, aside from the final component (Mesh Networking protocol and capability) had been completed, opening up a completely new concept of how a blockchain can secure a data network, to provide a truly unique infrastructure unlike anything that has existed previously. Qortal can now provide essentially anything 'The Internet' can, without servers, DNS, ICANN, or any centralized provider involvement, providing unhackable data publishing, application and web hosting, and multiple demos of various types of Q-Apps that can be pulled together easily by any existing web developer. Bringing forth a true next gen internet platform.

Ultimately, having fully open source hardware from the lowest possible level, combined with open source operating systems running Qortal, Q-Apps and other Qortal data, a truly secure next generation of the digital world is possible.

CHD - Crowetic Hardware Development, is the first company formed for development of hardware solutions built with intent to run the Qortal Network. The 'QORTector', a 20W computer capable of not only running Qortal, but replacing insecure Windows or fully controlled Mac machines with open source linux-based desktop systems, was the first device created.

Longer-term the goal is to provide fully open hardware paired with fully open OS, and open source Qortal-powered solutions to operate every aspect of the global digital world.

Please read the Qortal In A Nutshell page next!