Qanum: post-quantum layer-1 monetary base. Architecture and design whitepaper

Qanum is a decentralized monetary network designed from the start for the post-quantum horizon. Its base layer is specialized in custody, settlement, cryptographic security and robust self-custody: a UTXO model, proof-of-work consensus, a deliberately limited scripting policy based on native templates, and post-quantum signatures (ML-DSA, SLH-DSA) from genesis, with a peer-to-peer network encrypted and authenticated with ML-KEM-1024 and ML-DSA-87. Scaling, advanced privacy and more expressive execution are left to higher layers. This whitepaper describes what is implemented in the running Rust full node (testnet, v0.9.0), what is fixed at the design level and what remains roadmap. It is an architecture draft, not a final consensus specification and not a public offering. The proof of work is not claimed to be quantum-resistant (section 9.9). Web version: https://qanum.org/whitepaper/.