Dash — from darkness to the light
Dash cryptocurrency: review
Dash, Monero, and Zcash — all these names are remembered when it comes to anonymous cryptocurrencies. These are also excluded from the listing of exchanges when state regulators tackle the problem seriously.
Dash (the former XCoin and also DarkCoin) is a coin with the highest price and capitalization among three ones mentioned above.
Dash cryptocurrency: wiki information
Code (ticker): DASH.
Website: dash.org
Launch date: January 18, 2014, under the name XCoin.
Issue: mining.
Total number of coins to be issued is about 18 million.
The history of Dash
Evan Duffield got swept up with the idea of decentralized digital money after getting acquainted with Bitcoin in 2010. After a couple of years, he decided that the cryptocurrency should provide real anonymity of users and developed a modification of the protocol and gave it to the Bitcoin development team. The protocol did not find understanding — the code for the first digital currency did not include the changes proposed by Duffield.
Thus, a concept of a personal digital coin has emerged. In the process of its development, some additions were shown up: X11 hashing algorithm and private system of compensation for miners and owners of masternodes — particular servers for the network.
On January 18, 2014, the new cryptocurrency XCoin was launched, but on February 28 its name changed to Darkcoin. This name was chosen specially to create an aura of confidential, forbidden, "dark" payment means. But already on March 25, 2015, the team changed the name again — Dash (which stands for digital cash) sounded better for a serious and respected cryptocurrency.
Dark episode with instamining
The beginning of the network XCoin was accompanied by a scandal, which still casts a shadow on the reputation of Dash. Cryptocurrency, which history begins with dishonest distribution, causes mistrust of users. The point of the problem is that immediately after the launch, 3.8 million coins were mined within two days — that is the fifth part of the maximum amount.
Developer Evan Duffield, shrugging off these accusations of hidden instamining, explains this occasion away by the fever of the first days when he and the team did not follow the coefficient of the complexity of mining but set the necessary amount later.
Dash cryptocurrency: analysis and description of working principle
X11
The development of Duffield, the algorithm X11, performs gradual hashing with eleven different functions: this increases the security of the network and makes it difficult to mine using ASIC devices — Dash coins can be produced using personal computers.
Masternodes
The Dash network consists of two levels: ordinary participants are united in a traditional blockchain structure that operates on the Proof-of-Work (POW) consensus algorithm, and special servers-masternodes are connected to the top-level network — this part functions according to a special algorithm of the Proof- of-Service consensus. Masternodes perform anonymous transactions and payments at high speed.
PrivateSend
Masternodes provide anonymous payments: they divide transactions into standard parts — from one hundredth to ten Dash, and mix together the same shares of different payments in several rounds. The number of mixing cycles can be selected by the user sending the payment. This service is called PrivateSend.
InstantSend
Another service provided by the masternodes is the instant payment InstantSend. While in an ordinary blockchain network a transaction is required to be written to the newly generated block, and the data of this block were placed in the blocks following it, InstantSend allows you to perform without it.
Masternodes verify the reliability of the transaction by their means, give confirmation to users, and write it down to the block later — when it is ready.
Reward to miners and masternodes holders
In the Dash network, not only miners get their reward, but also users who run and maintain masternodes. For each created block, a miner receives 45% of the reward, another 45% is sent to the holder of the masternode, and the remaining 10% remain in the system — to support its work.
The holders of the masternode can vote both for important changes in Dash and the use of the funds of the system. Any members of the community can run masternodes after they install special software on their servers and contribute 1000 Dash to the account — it’s a kind of deposit for participation in the work. The user can withdraw these funds, but then the work of his masternode will stop.
Dash cryptocurrency: price history
Since the launch of Dash, this cryptocurrency has been slowly rising in price from $ 0.2 in February 2014 to $ 10 in January 2017, when good times have come for the coin and its rate has been growing vigorously: March — $ 100, June — $ 150, September — $ 300. At its peak, in January 2018, the price of Dash reached $ 1,500. Curiously, but the highest rate of cryptocurrency in relation to Bitcoin was in March 2017, when 0.1 BTC was given for Dash. The fall of the market that followed the rally of the end of 2017 affected Dash, but the current price is still higher than the one that was before the bust of rates.
Dash cryptocurrency: predictions, plans, and prospects
At present, when the pressure is going up from all sides: state regulators with the KYC principle force the exchanges to give up cryptocurrencies promising anonymous transactions. Competitors, having adopted the technologies of masternode and two-level networks, compete in speed and convenience of work. The market uncertainty forces investors and traders to wait for a favorable moment — the Dash cryptocurrency team is actively fighting for consumers and has launched the "Evolution" project in 2018.
“Evolution’s mission is to make digital cash easy to use and access for all users, even those who aren’t technologically savvy”— this is a quote from the official website. Obviously, the project team of Dash no longer wants to be associated with dark, confidential, anonymous and potentially illegal payments in the minds of people.
Dash is a cryptocurrency with apparent advantages. It’s user-friendly, convenient and inexpensive for sellers and buyers payment system: this cryptocurrency has got a promising direction of development. Dash already has success, and most likely, it’s not the last one.