Arizona State University (ASU) has announced a partnership with digital currency Dash, which will provide $ 350,000 to "accelerate research, development and education in order to give project speed, efficiency, block transaction security and expand its uses ". The funds will be allocated as follows:
The Dash Scholars program, which offers $ 100,000 in scholarships for undergraduate and graduate research;
Research and open source Industry Lab, providing an additional $ 100,000 for funding from ASU's Blockchain Research Lab (BRL) and $ 50,000 in new funding for the Luminosity Lab;
Development of the Blockchain course, with $ 100,000 for the creation of an online postgraduate course to be offered by ASU in the second semester.
The $ 350,000 will be funded by Dash through a successful treasury proposal. The director of ASU's Blockchain research laboratory, Dragan Boscovic, commented:
"ASU is extremely happy with this initiative and is ready to play its part in building a powerful Blockchain research and innovation environment for young talent in developing Blockchain's practical applications".
Fusion of research and development
When thinking about digital currencies, there is a tendency for the community to focus on the development side of the equation. New versions of the software, updates to add new features, roadmaps, and the like - often get more attention than research. However, the new features that make everyone very enthusiastic are possible for researchers who discover the means and methods to add them.
While the Dash Core DAO (autonomous distribution organization) focuses on the development, marketing, and everyday aspects of maintaining a digital currency, there are at least two research groups working to advance the project. Dash Labs is a DAO founded by Dash founder, Evan Duffield, based in Hong Kong, who is working to develop hardware solutions to enable chain scaling using massive blocks.
In the same way, ASU researchers are working on ways to improve Dash and solve crypto-problems in general. Last year, Dash funded ASU's Blockchain Research Lab with a $ 50,000 donation. Dash Core CEO Ryan Taylor wrote:
"The initial research will focus on the production capacity and latency performance of blockchain technology, model and evaluate different network architectures (including the Dash multi-layer architecture), applications, and use cases to propose a deployment guide and best practices of "scalability".
Taylor further emphasizes that the partnership is exclusive:
"So far, most Blockchain research has been focused on bitcoin, with minimal focus on other Blockchain applications ... Sponsorship incorporates Dash as the exclusive digital currency for ongoing academic research."
Bitcoin and MIT
Dash is not the only digital coin project that joins a large university. In the summer of 2015, MIT launched the Digital Currency Initiative and solicited donations that were used to hire three full-time bitcoin developers. This movement followed the effective collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation, which has provided much of the funding for development. Currently, none of the funds come from MIT, they come from outside donors and are distributed by the Digital Coins Initiative.
By May 2016, MIT had already raised $ 900,000 to fund the salaries of these developers. Later that year, this number increased to $ 2 million. This funding is crucial, as Nasdaq points out:
"Financing development of Bitcoin seems to have always been problematic."
While some developers are willing and able to work full time on open source projects like Bitcoin without compensation, the vast majority is not. Therefore, funding is desperately needed to maintain and advance the project.
A different method of financing
While MIT has serious problems with funds, dependence on the goodwill of others is always an unstable proposition. While most digital currency projects rely on donations or an initial donation (via ICO) to fund development, Dash chose a different method. Dash self-finances its development team by paying developers' salaries from a portion of the rewards of the block.
Each month, 10% of the bulk rewards are reserved for successful treasury proposals. This means that up to 6,650 DASH, worth $ 5.8 million at the time of this publication, can be paid directly by the network to those who are able to pass their proposals into the treasury. Dash's treasury system pays for marketing efforts, business development and integrations, conference sponsorships, and more.
More importantly, Dash's treasury pays the salaries of Dash Core developers each month. Currently, Dash employs a team of 50 people, including 23 developers, 4 project managers, 8 marketing specialists and 15 other administrative staff. These team members receive a total of $ 300,000 per month, directly from Dash's treasury system. No donation is required, and no one is required to work for free.
It is this treasury system that funded the $ 350,000 partnership with ASU.
Influence direction
One member of the Dash community that accompanies TanteStefana wrote that while MIT was funding the development of Bitcoin, Dash funds the ASU research lab. She points out that the direction of influence is completely different: Bitcoin is at least partially dependent on MIT's goodwill and fundraising efforts. This means that the university could theoretically try to influence the project.
With the partnership between Dash and ASU, money and influence flow in opposite directions. It is the Dash that is providing funding to ASU, making it impossible for the university to exert any influence on the project.
Good fit
Cointelegraph had the opportunity to speak with Dragan Boscovic, director of Blockchain's research lab at ASU, who commented on why Dash is so good for the university:
"First, the offices of the Dash Core team are at the ASU SkySong innovation center in Scottsdale, which is also where Blockchain Research is located, allowing an excellent level of interaction between Dash, ASU faculty and students from diverse disciplines, including computer science, engineering, business and law. Second, ASU is focused on "building problem solvers and entrepreneurs," with a large R & D budget. Dash is one of the most innovative digital currency solutions with innovative algorithms, network topology and services. It's a natural partnership. Third, there has been a great demand for an online postgraduate course focused on Blockchain technology activators and applications. The course will help ensure Blockchain finds a fast track for fast, popular adoption".
When asked what separated Dash from other digital currency projects, Boscovic replied:
"After partnering with Dash in the middle of last year and also assessing the expanded possibilities for collaboration, scholarship, Blockchain specialization courses and a rapid research and innovation effort were identified as ways to move Blockchain applications forward. That speaks volumes about the Dash network's governance and its ability to self-finance strategic initiatives like this".