# Quark

Quark is an [ABCI application](https://github.com/tendermint/abci) designed to
be used with the [Tendermint consensus engine](https://tendermint.com/) to form
a Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrency.  It also provides a general purpose framework
for extending the feature-set of the cryptocurrency by implementing plugins.

Quark serves as a reference implementation for how we build ABCI applications
in Go, and is the framework in which we implement the [Cosmos
Hub](https://cosmos.network).  **It's easy to use, and doesn't require any
forking** - just implement your plugin, import the quark libraries, and away
you go with a full-stack blockchain and command line tool for transacting.

## Prerequisites

[Install and setup Golang](https://tendermint.com/docs/guides/install-go).

## Installation

```
go get -u github.com/tendermint/basecoin/cmd/basecoin
```

See the [install guide](/docs/guide/install.md) for more details.


## Guide

1. Getting started with the [Quark basics](/docs/guide/basecoin-basics.md)
1. Learning to [use the plugin system](/docs/guide/basecoin-plugins.md)
1. More features of the [Quark tool](/docs/guide/basecoin-tool.md)
1. Learn how to use [Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC)](/docs/guide/ibc.md)
1. See [more examples](https://github.com/tendermint/basecoin-examples)


To deploy a testnet, see our [repository of deployment tools](https://github.com/tendermint/tools).