What is Dash cryptocurrency and can it displace fiat

Dash coin

A coin invented by an independent developer should become a full-fledged currency of the world economy. That is the dream of its creator and the whole team of developers. The first victim of fiat fighters was Venezuela, where Dash became a full-fledged replacement for the national currency. Let’s talk about what Dash is and what the prospects of this token are.

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Overview of Dash cryptocurrency: history of creation

The cryptocurrency Dash (DASH) appeared on January 18, 2014 under the original name XCoin (XCO). Unlike most modern cryptocurrencies, which go through an ICO stage before creation, Dash (Digital Cash) cryptocurrency was created by independent developer Evan Duffield without conducting an initial coin distribution.

He considered the main drawback of Bitcoin to be the lack of anonymity and interchangeability, so he proposed changes to the bitcoin protocol that made the cryptocurrency confidential and interchangeable. However, the community did not listen to him, and Duffield had no choice but to create a new cryptocurrency.

“I discovered Bitcoin in the mid-2010s, and it has been on my mind ever since. After a couple of years, in 2012, I started to really think about how to add anonymity to Bitcoin. I found about 10 ways to do it, but after the release they didn’t want my code to be included in Bitcoin. The developers insisted that the underlying protocol remain largely unchanged, and so does everything else that is based on it. This was the birth of the Darkcoin concept,” he recounted.

After creating the concept, Duffield continued to develop and found the algorithm that became the basis for the new cryptocurrency. “I actually put a similar growth curve in X11, where miners have to fight to create even a small advantage for themselves, just like they did in the early stages of Bitcoin. I think this is essential to create a vibrant ecosystem,” said the developer.

How the Dash cryptocurrency was launched

Dash coins

In the first hour of the launch, about 500,000 Dash were mined. The next 1 million Digital Cash were mined in 7 hours and finally another 400k in the next 36 hours. Thus, 1.9 million coins, or about more than a third of the total volume was mined in 48 hours, generating discussion about the initial distribution.

In June 2014, industry news site Cryptocoinnews wrote “One of the biggest holes in Darkcoin’s path has to do with big instamine. Instamines are coins that are in block 0, genesis. The number of coins is laid down algorithmically, there can be more than there will be in subsequent blocks. Sometimes this notion is also used simply to mine the first blocks early.

Such a large instamine has been the reason for the developers’ criticism from the professional community. According to Duffield, the reason was a critical error in the code, and the creator even offered to roll back the network, but the community rejected the idea. As a result, a huge amount of coins was sold on exchanges at low prices, and the situation stabilized.

The official name was changed from Darkcoin to Dash on March 25, 2015. Interestingly, in coming up with the name of the new coin, Duffield showed himself to be an excellent marketer. For starters, he brushed off the negative image in the former name – the cryptocurrency community associates the word dark with the criminal segment of the Internet Darknet. Then he deprived the new coin of the prefix coin, leaving the short and sonorous Digital Cash, which means “leap”.

Overview of Dash: The Project Team

Core Team Dash consists of 50 professionals who work to improve the protocol and ensure that the cryptocurrency is stable. Some of the team members are based in Phoenix, Arizona, but the majority work from different parts of the world. The creator of the coin, Evan Duffield, is still involved in the life of the project. Ryan Raylor, the current CEO of the Dash Core Group, is responsible for the development of the coin community.

The Dash Core Group is an organization that supports the network through the implementation of various initiatives. At the beginning of his career at Dash in 2016. Ryan held the position of chief financial officer. His primary focus was the payments industry and investments. This, not least of all, allowed Dash to emerge as a leader in electronic currencies.

The Digital Cash team is one of the largest in the crypto world, and it continues to grow. Digital Cash has hubs in several countries, each with its own local team.

How Dash is different from bitcoin

The first difference between the coin and the king of the cryptocurrency market is the complete anonymity of all operations with this currency. The level of privacy can be safely compared to cash payments. The highest level of privacy is provided by a combination of several cryptographic algorithms.

Two-level architecture of currency allows to introduce all updates and improvements from developers easily and quickly – the price of Digital Cash depends on it, too. The decentralized Masternode network is responsible for the system’s resistance to hacking and security.

Transactions in the Dash network are subject to minimal fees, and sometimes even free of charge.

Digital Cash has good energy efficiency, allowing to save energy while mining. The blockchain currency also has InstantSend instant transaction service. The decentralized blockchain-based governance (DGBB) mechanism allows all members of the local cryptocommunity to develop and improve the system by putting their projects to public vote.

Can Dash replace fiat money?

An illustrative case of the use of Digital Cash  as a means of payment is the spread of crypto-assets in Venezuela.

In 2018, Venezuela’s national currency, the bolivar, depreciated by 95%. Because of this, it was practically impossible to buy anything, either in cash or with bank cards. Then the Dash leadership began to take active steps to introduce cryptocurrency as a means of payment. Conferences were repeatedly held, where residents were told about Dash and its possibilities. As a result, the cryptocurrency Dash practically replaced Venezuelans’ own currency as a way to pay for purchases.

Wallets for storing Digital Cash became widespread, and the coin was accepted in restaurants, popular fast-food outlets, stores, pharmacies and even in parking lots.

This is a very telling example, proving the popularity of this cryptocurrency. It is accepted by hundreds of online stores around the world, which determines the value of Dash. There is a special page “Buy with Dash” in the network, where all the points of currency acceptance are marked.

The main advantages of the Digital Cash

The currency is based on the unique X11 encryption algorithm found by Evan Duffield and consisting of 11 different cryptographic algorithms (Blake, Bmw, Groestl, JH, Keccak, Skein, Luffa, Cubehash, Shavite, Simd, Echo). This approach is more reliable, because it would require bypassing all 11 algorithms to crack the network.

X11 has also reduced the energy costs of Digital Cash mining. Compared to the Scrypt algorithm using the latest generations of CPUs, X11 mining requires 30% less power and 30-50% fewer resources for heat dissipation.

Unlike Bitcoin architecture, where there is only one type of node, Dash divides nodes into two types – regular mining nodes and masternodes.

Any member of the network can form a masternode by downloading the full blockchain history and keeping a minimum of 1,000 DASH in their account. The latter helps protect the network from being “infiltrated” by intruders and launching a 51% attack, as a disruption of the system will also cause losses for the intruder himself.

It is thanks to the masternodes in the  Digital Cash system that functions such as Private Send and Instant Send are available. For performing their functions in maintaining the network, masternodes receive a reward of 45% of each block mined. In addition, they have the right to propose their projects, as well as to vote on proposed projects for the further development of the cryptocurrency. According to the project’s official website, there are currently 4,336 masterminds active.

Dash cryptocurrency was the first to offer DGBB – decentralized blockchain management, an analogue of today’s DAO.

The idea is that anyone can propose a project to develop the Digital Cash network. The innovator makes a commission payment of 5 coins.

 

The decision is made by voting, in which only masternodes, i.e. nodes that have at least 1000 coins in their account, participate.) For example, it was decided to increase the block from 1 Mb to 2 Mb. The voting itself lasted about a day.

InstantSend technology is a service for instant transactions, it takes about 1.5 seconds to confirm. All transactions are checked by the masternodes in an accelerated mode (without block creation), which increases the commission. At the same time, verification of such “fast” transactions by masternodes allows to avoid the problem of double-spending of coins. The use of InstantSend technology is available to users who installed a full wallet, as well as those who use “thin” clients, including mobile ones.

How to buy Digital Cash?

Dash coins are falling

Cryptocurrency exchanges are considered the most popular way to buy Digital Cash. A full list of exchanges can be found on the CoinMarketCap website. This is the most balanced way to buy in terms of price/commission ratio.

A fairly simple, but costly in terms of accrued commission method of acquiring the token is ATMs. Besides, purchase via bank transfer is also possible. For example, in BitPanda and AnyCoinDirect services you can fund your account via SEPA, but before you can use them, you need to confirm your identity.

Before you buy currency, it makes sense to download a special Dash Wallet and install it on your computer or create online Dash Wallet. Once the wallet is created, the user receives a unique number and can buy and sell as well as store the coin.

About Ankur Suri 28 Articles
Ankur Suri is a blockchain developer who became interested in cryptocurrencies while studying at UCLA. He follows cryptocurrency market news closely and is as passionate about writing as he is about programming. Together with a group of crypto enthusiasts, Ankur is involved in the development and promotion of the alternative Dash wallet, aiming to provide users with the most convenient tool for transactions with this coin.

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