Dash Core Group has confirmed a definitive release date for Dash Platform, previously codenamed Evolution, in Q4 of this year on testnet.

During a recent quarterly call for Dash Core Group, the main development arm of the Dash network, CTO Bob Carroll confirmed that the team could confirm that Dash Platform would be completed and deployed on the network's main testnet in the fourth quarter of this year. Dash Core Group declined to give a mainnet launch date due to the unreliability of predicting which bugs may be discovered on an otherwise fully completed product.

According to Dash Core CMO Fernando Gutierrez, this represents one of the more significant milestones in Dash's history:

"It is very exciting to see that Evolution is finally so close to being finished. It is the biggest project we have tackled and it has been going on for years. Users being able to enjoy its benefits will be huge for us."

Originally conceptualized in 2015, Dash's Evolution project promised to bring usability features to the cryptocurrency at the protocol level such as usernames and contact lists. Since then, the project has evolved into Dash Platform, a full-fledged data contract platform to allow developers to easily create their own decentralized applications based on Dash, with a cornerstone of the platform being blockchain usernames and contact lists, as well as a payments app dubbed DashPay leveraging these elements and geared towards non-technical users. Platform was released on "Evonet", a public testnet aimed at allowing developers to build on and test the various components of the platform, at the end of 2019.

Dash's cautious approach to deploying Platform

 
The Dash Core team is employing a restrained strategy when deploying Dash Platform rather than an attempt to be first-to-market. The Q4 release of Platform consists of a finished product, but a full mainnet launch date is nonetheless being withheld in order to allow for as long and rigorous a testing phase as is necessary to iron out any bugs that may remain hidden in the codebase.

Gutierrez believes that a careful approach is necessary to ensure a stable protocol which is increasingly utilized by consumers and businesses:

"The changes that the Dash Platform require in the protocol are very significant. Dash is now a mature project with users and businesses that depend on it staying reliable. We have to be extra cautious that we don't disrupt our current network while breaking everything, so we need this phased approach that goes from evonet, to testnet, and then to mainnet."

The race for human-readable usernames and easy-to-use crypto apps is heating up

 
As Dash Platform nears completion, several competitors join the race to deploy the first widely popular user-friendly payment app for cryptocurrencies. Unstoppable Domains and ENS (Ethereum Name Service) offer decentralized web domains with the ability to associate cryptocurrency addresses and send to those domains, and HandCash offers Bitcoin SV users a username to send and receive funds. Whether to a username.crypto, username.eth, or $username handle, all provide a human-readable and consistent username to use to send funds, instead of long cryptographic hashes which are not typically reused. Dash aims to join and compete in this space and reach average users beyond the current tech-savvy base of cryptocurrency users.

Donate!

Please leave a tip if you enjoy the content, either here in LBRY or via any of the cryptocurrency addresses in my CoinTree link. You can also send a message with a CoinTree donation. I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks to my recurring donors Kingsley Edwards and Colin!

Join LBRY!

If you're new to LBRY, what are you waiting for? Join!