Dash has beaten Litecoin to become the sixth most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, after Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), and IOTA (MIOTA) in that order. That leaves us wondering if Dash is set to dethrone another cryptocurrency and move higher on the leaderboard. To find an answer to that, read on for what makes Dash to special, followed by my Dash price prediction 2020.
n the southern African country of Zimbabwe, political tensions recently peaked after a military coup ended President Robert Mugabe’s 37-year-long rule. The country, which is marred by high poverty and unemployment rates, is facing a serious economic crisis. The biggest economic challenge the new government faces is finding a monetary unit.
Wait, why am I discussing global politics here? I’ll tell you why.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Zimbabwe is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have a currency of its own. Zimbabwe ditched its own currency back in 2009 after hyperinflation in the country turned it worthless. It took up the U.S. dollar as its official currency, but even that is now in short supply.
Meanwhile, political tensions in the country are now forcing Zimbabweans to look for safe-haven investments. Believe it or not, cryptocurrencies are turning out to be the prime options.
The world’s most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is leading the way as Zimbabweans pay high premiums to secure these crypto coins. On Zimbabwe’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange, Golix, one bitcoin is now selling for nearly double its U.S. dollar price.
All of these developments hint on one thing. The current economic conditions in Zimbabwe are becoming perfectly conducive to an alternative currency taking over as the country’s basic monetary unit.
Enter Dash.
Dash has just launched a pilot program in Zimbabwe to promote itself as an alternative store of value and medium of exchange (in other words, money).
In a partnership with KuvaCash, the program is being touted as an initiative undertaken to “fight inflation in Zimbabwe with cryptocurrency.” (Source: “Dash Forms Partnership With KuvaCash to Fight Inflation in Zimbabwe with Cryptocurrency,” CrowdFund Insider, November 21, 2017.)
This brings us full circle to where we started. Dash prices have skyrocketed after the news, giving it a lead over other popular altcoins like NEO and Monero.
In fact, this whole year has been remarkable for Dash. The Dash to USD price, which ended the prior year at roughly $11.00, recently touched its all-time high of around $650.00.
Believe it or not, but Dash’s year-to-date performance beats Bitcoin’s by a significant margin. Take a peek at the Dash price chart below.
Say, you had invested a meager $1,000 in Dash at the beginning of this year. You would have turned it into $50,000 by now!
hart courtesy of TradingView.com
The quadruple-digit gains in Dash coin prices are certainly tempting for new cryptocurrency investors.
But how exactly did Dash make this possible? Well, you have to give it up to the team of developers behind it.
Dash is hailed for its unique marketing. The team behind Dash has actively promoted this cryptocurrency as a faster, cheaper, and more efficient alternative to Bitcoin.
So although the average cryptocurrency investor doesn’t see much difference in Dash and other altcoins, he/she feels tempted to put his/her money on Dash.
Just in case you don’t have the slightest idea what I’ve been talking about so far, here’s an express crash course on Dash cryptocurrency—without all the crypto-jargon, I promise. Stay tuned for my Dash price prediction 2020, which follows right afterwards.
What Is Dash?
Dash is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that allows users to conduct financial transactions directly without the interference of a central authority.
Dash users can buy and sell Dash on a cryptocurrency exchange, use it to send and receive payments for products and services, or mine it for a reward. (More on mining shortly.)
If you have been following this coin for longer than two years, you may still remember it for its old name. Dash was known as “Darkcoin” up until 2015 when its founders decided to shed that shady name.
The rebranding, followed by Dash’s ingenious marketing, has lent it a huge following in the cryptocurrency world. Some crypto bulls now view it as an alternative to the more popular Bitcoin and Ethereum.
But is it really worth it?
To answer that, a quick comparison of the three is imperative before we turn to Dash price forecast 2020.
Dash vs. Ethereum vs. Bitcoin
Although all of these cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain technology, the three are fairly different.
I find Dash to be closer to Bitcoin in spirit, than to Ethereum. Unlike Ethereum, which promotes itself as a platform for cryptocurrency-based customized “smart contracts,” Dash only bills itself as a basic alternative currency to fiat currency.
Thus, Ethereum offers better incentives to businesses and financial institutions to move to its platform. Not only that, but it also boasts better rewards for miners. Ethereum rewards miners on the basis of “proof of stake.” So whoever has a bigger stake in the game (that is, a higher number of coins) gets a higher reward. This creates a community of trusted and dedicated Ethereum users.
On the contrary, like Bitcoin, Dash miners are rewarded for their “proof of work,” which means the more computing power they have and the more complex problems they solve, the higher their reward. In other words, Dash mining may disproportionately favor new miners over old miners. That’s because any new miner with a superior hardware and the ability to bear higher power costs can beat older miners at winning better rewards. This can leave dedicated miners disgruntled.
In case you don’t know what mining is, it is the process of solving the mathematical problems that underlie the blockchain code over which these cryptocurrencies are built. The owners of these cryptocurrencies are incentivized to solve these mathematical puzzles and earn rewards, in turn, providing power to the system.
But not everybody is a computer geek, so it’s okay if you don’t know how to mine these coins. You can just stick with investing and using them.
As for Dash and Bitcoin, I would place Dash above Bitcoin merely because it can process more transactions at a faster rate than Bitcoin.
So cutting to the chase; if I were to put them in order of their incentives and serviceability, here’s what the order would look like:
Ethereum > Dash > Bitcoin
Dash Price Prediction 2020: More Upside Possible?
Dash has had a neat run in 2017 and has now reached giddying heights. Yet, I would say that there are chances that its upward strides would continue through this year and the next.
But before we hit 2020, I’m foreseeing the Dash price heading for a correction. Yes, a correction. Dash coin has already entered “overpriced” territory, so a correction looks likely. I would suggest new Dash investors consider all options before they take the big leap.
Although there are some positive tailwinds working in its favor, like the Zimbabwe bet, Dash investing still misses one critical aspect. There is no strong distinguishing factor that sets Dash apart from most other cryptocurrencies.
While it’s true that its marketing team may pull off another big rally in prices in 2018, it’s only a matter of time before investors come asking for more.