Dash was founded in 2014 by Evan Duffield and has been around for some time. I find this cryptocurrency very interesting and I think it deserves more attention. If you don’t follow the project, I’d suggest researching it. This coin has one of the biggest teams and one of the biggest communities behind it. There are few things which make me always excited when I hear about DASH:
The Treasury
Dash is one of the first if not the first project to implement a unique system of funding. The project funds itself by the blockchain. This is enabled by the clever block reward distribution of the Dash network. Usually, the block rewards go to the miners for securing the network (e.g. Bitcoin). Dash has a different approach. The Dash team decided to split the block reward into three parts: 45/45/10. 45% goes to the miners, 45% is reserved for the masternode network (more on that later), and 10% goes to the Treasury. The Treasury plays a key role. It is basically a funding mechanism for Dash related projects. People submit proposals to the network, the network votes on the proposals and if a proposal is approved funds get distributed. It is that easy. This is how the Dash core team found a sustainable way to fund development. The Treasury secures the long-term development of Dash.
Masternode Network
Dash incorporates a unique second-layer network of peer-to-peer nodes called Masternodes. These incentivized nodes allow for Dash to scale rapidly. Unlike the miners, Masternodes don’t do any mining but still get the same portion of the block reward. The Masternode network provides services to the Dash ecosystem. Example services are InstantSend or PrivateSend where users are able to send funds instantly or make private transactions. If you have used Bitcoin before you know how slow a transaction could be. In addition to that, most people consider a Bitcoin transaction secure after six mined blocks which is an insane amount of time. With InstantSend users are actually able to spend money at point of sale locations such as your local coffee shop. The PrivateSend makes the Dash coins fungible and gives users the desired privacy when needed since the blockchain is public. These use cases are only the tip of the iceberg. In the future, the Masternode network will offer a number of services to the users making the Dash user experience richer.
Governance Mechanism
As I mentioned before the network is capable of voting on different proposals. The Voting mechanism is another service provided by the Masternode network. Masternodes vote on proposals submitted by the users or companies. Anybody could submit a proposal to the network and apply for funding from the Treasury. The Treasury funds proposals on a monthly basis. Each month Masternodes have to vote on proposals in order to distribute the Treasury budget. If there are more proposals than available funding, the system distributes the coins to the proposals which received the highest number of positive votes.
Dash Evolution - the future of Dash
Evolution is the codename for the next big Dash update which will happen in 2018. The main idea behind Evolution is making digital currency accessible and scalable. With this update, Dash is willing to reach the consumer market which digital currencies have been unable to reach so far. Evolution is only a project pseudonym and will get changed once the final version is out. The Dash core team shared recently their vision about the future release. Evolution as a platform will offer unique features such as Evolution accounts, Merchant apps, Masternode Apps, Investment tools, DashDrive, DAPI, etc. Let’s dive in into some of the features.
Evolution Accounts
Every user will get an account which will have a human-readable nickname. These usernames will end up on the blockchain and will be searchable. From a users point of view, this should look like your usual sign up process on traditional websites. These usernames will help usability and give users the possibility to look for other users. I assume that the Dash team will probably integrate a functionality where people could be able to send funds to nicknames instead of addresses. This will make the user experience much better. The Dash accounts will actually give users an online identity. Having this identity enables many possibilities. The Dash team could implement a Facebook-like one-click login for the Dash users so you would be able to login into websites with your Dash ID. This is huge!
Merchent Apps
Dash Evolution will look like an average website. As a platform, it will offer many services. The Merchant apps are one of these services. When you log in you will be able to search through apps and buy products and services directly from the Evolution platform. Obviously, you will be able to pay with Dash coins.
Masternode Apps
This feature got only mentioned by the team but never explained. The way I imagine how this would work is, for example, a masternode share app where people invest part of their funds into masternode shares and get rewards in the form of interest. Oh, yes I forgot to mention that if you want to run a masternode you need 1000 Dash collateral.
Dash Drive
Maybe not directly aimed and end-users but the masternode network will offer storage for the network. This storage could be used by apps for storing data which is important for the users but cannot be recorded on the blockchain. These could be large files or databases. Think of it as the Dash cloud storage which will probably be fully encrypted and very secure.
DAPI - Dash API
The DAPI will enable third-party developers to make full use of the Dash platform. Everybody will be able to build on top of Dash. Merchants could add their apps and integrations. Users will profit from the diverse ecosystem.
The first version of Dash Evolution is expected to be released somewhere around June 2018. If the team delivers on its promise, we will see the Dash price skyrocket next year. If you are wondering where to diversify your cryptocurrency portfolio Dash should be on your priority list.
There are many other small features not mentioned in the post, but this is a general overview and I wanted to keep this one short.
As of today the total market cap of Dash is $2,390,255,269 and the price per coin is $311.
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