Quai block rewards are proportional to “bits” of difficulty, which can be approximately represented by the number of leading zeros in each hash that “finds” a valid block. Quai has an effectively fixed supply, as inflation trends towards zero over time.

Qi block rewards are linearly proportional to “hashes” of difficulty, or the expected number of hashes needed to mine a block at the current difficulty.

This logarithmic versus linear relationship produces the significant difference between Quai scarcity and Qi expansion. For every doubling (2x) in difficulty or hashes, there is only one added unit (+1) in bits. Over time, this ensures Quai’s scarcity, while Qi is naturally connected to the miner cost of production and thus functions as a loose measure of energy or electricity pricing.

Importantly, these block reward functions only define how many Quai/Qi tokens can potentially be emitted. Actual, realized supply emissions from block rewards are determined by the choices miners must make to receive only either Quai or Qi, a selection they may change going forward at any time.

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Coinbase Maturity Period

Miners can choose to lock their rewards for extended periods to receive higher yields