Cryptocurrency Dash (DASH): history of creation, course, advantages and disadvantages, prospects and forecasts

What is Dash? The history of the creation of the crypto coin 

Dash is a cryptocurrency that is used to send and receive payments, but with better privacy and higher transaction speeds than some other cryptocurrencies. 

In 2014, Evan Duffield founded the Xcoin project, later renamed Darkcoin, which is a fork of Litecoin, which was a fork of the Bitcoin protocol. In 2015, the project was renamed again and received its true name DASH. 

Duffield claimed to have started development of the project as a hobby, writing the code in just one weekend.

Dash was designed to protect the anonymity of platform users using the X11 algorithm, as well as the synchronous delivery of transactions at higher speeds using masternodes. 

There are several ways to send Dash — PrivateSend, InstantSend and regular transactions. Private Send transactions are untraceable, while InstantSend transactions are processed in seconds, but at an additional cost.

The Dash network uses a masternode system that makes it easy to verify transactions. Masternodes are responsible for PrivateSend and InstantSend payments, as well as network management.

Although the project became very successful, after 3 years, at the end of 2017, Duffield left his post, transferring control of the protocol to the Dash core group.

How does Dash work? 

Dash uses a 2-tier network that allows miners and masternodes to work together.

The first level has the support of miners competing among themselves in the creation of new blocks and the security of the blockchain. Miners prevent double spending by saving blockchain transaction histories. Miners can achieve this through X11 computational operations, which makes it possible to combine transaction blocks into a chain. 

The X11 hashing algorithm was created by Dash founder Evan Duffield. X11 uses several rounds of 11 different hashes, such as: blake, bmw, groestl, jh, keccak, skein, luffa, cubehash, shavite, simd, echo. Building the work in this way makes the X11 algorithm the most secure and complex among all modern hashes used in cryptocurrencies. 

The second level is under the control of masternodes, which are direct participants in the network, partially taking over certain functions of the miners by placing 1000 DASH. Masternodes are assistants to miners, they order and verify transactions.

Advantages and disadvantages of Dash:

Pros:

• Security — more than 4500 servers and 200 computing power of TerraHash X11 ASIC confirm transactions. Sophisticated encryption and a strong protocol provide security you can rely on.
• Rapid evolution. Their innovative incentive system has helped the cryptocurrency grow to over 4,000 masternodes since its launch in 2014. This makes it one of the largest peer-to-peer networks and one of the most secure and promising options for 24/7 access to your digital currency, no matter where you are.
• Speed — The Dash system uses InstantX. You can access it from your wallet and it will fully process transactions in just four seconds.
• Low transaction fees. Sending most transactions costs a few cents. It's significantly cheaper than PayPal or Moneygram.
• The first self-managed and self-funded protocol. Another factor that adds value to Dash is their availability to anyone who can help develop their platform. Cryptocurrency funds its own growth and also ensures that everyone can be held accountable.
• Popularity. You only need to go to BitcoinTalk to see that Dash is one of the most talked about digital currencies. Its development, use and differences from competitors have been clearly explained on the Internet. 

Cons:

• Disadvantages of anonymity. With the help of certain tools, it is possible to get rid of the mixing of transactions used to mask the identity.
• Funding problems. Marketing budgets and resources take precedence over innovation. In the long run, this can lead to performance and functionality degradation at the expense of attracting new customers.
• Competition. A quick look at the backstory of Dash, you will quickly realize that the cryptocurrency market is already challenging, and it is not clear if Dash can hold its own, let alone increase its market capitalization.
• Coin limit. This cryptocurrency offers a fixed number of coins - 18,900,000. However, there are actually a lot fewer coins in circulation than it seems. It's because of the masternodes. Each masternode represents 1000 coins. There are thousands of masternodes, which means that a significant number of coins are not available for use.
• In general, the price today may not reflect its value in the future at all. Therefore, deciding whether Dash is a good investment is not easy.

How many Dash (DASH) coins are in circulation? 

At the time of writing, there are 10,978,300  DASH in circulation, with a total maximum supply of 18,900,000 DASH. This number will not change unless the DASH DAO votes to approve an additional 10% allocation to rewards that were previously reserved for budget proposals. 

How to mine Dash Coin?

The Dash blockchain is built on a decentralized ledger that records every transaction. The Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm then secures the blockchain. Miners use computers to solve complex X11 math problems. If they are correct, they can add the block to the blockchain. In return, the miner receives the Dash currency as a reward. 

Mining will require specialized computers known as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). They solve PoS problems in the most efficient way.

It should also be taken into account that mining may not always be free, often this process requires significant costs for both electricity and the equipment itself. Therefore, many miners refuse to work individually and join mining pools in order to work together on solving problems.

How is Dash different from Bitcoin?

The main difference between these coins is the mining algorithm, which is used to create new coins. Both cryptocurrencies use different mining algorithms. The algorithm used by Dash is X11, which is based on the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism. Whereas, Bitcoin uses the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm to mine crypto coins that will circulate on the market. 

With PoS, we have validators that validate and process transactions and coins are pre-mined, while with PoW, miners mine coins, validate and process transactions.

Dash is a fork of Bitcoin, which is why it is so eager to reduce the scalability issues associated with the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. 

Dash also differs from Bitcoin in its governance mechanism. Dash has created a self-financing mechanism in which the rewards generated are shared among stakeholders known as the treasury, master nodes, and miners. The share is distributed in accordance with the established conditions.

This takes a huge amount of time, which leads to a delay in processing the transaction, which ultimately leads to a high transaction fee.

The average DASH block mining time is 2.5 minutes (compared to 10 minutes), miners get only 45% of DASH from each block (instead of 100% in the case of Bitcoin). 

How to buy and where to store DASH?

If you are ready to start investing or transacting with Dash, you can do so on their website by getting an online Dash wallet. In addition, there are many online exchanges that sell Dash. These include Bitfinex, Kraken, Binance, Poloniex and others.

In addition to exchanges, Dash can also be bought on crypto exchanges, where the exchange process is completed in a matter of minutes.

To store cryptocurrency, you can use either your own Dash wallet or those developed by other companies, such as Ledger or Trezor.

Cryptocurrency prospects. DASH Price Forecast

Since the advent of Bitcoin, tens of thousands of new cryptocurrencies have appeared, which in every possible way tried to improve the functionality of the first coin. One of them was the Dash cryptocurrency, which features instant transactions and an outstanding management system, making this coin a very good alternative to many large crypto projects. 

The key factors that play an important role in Dash and influence its development are:

• the ratio of supply and demand, as for any other coin or currency;
• financial participation and support of decentralized applications;
• Dash makes everyday payments easier, especially for those countries where the national currency has begun to crumble. 

As you can see, Dash is a very interesting alternative to fiat money, in which, according to many analysts, you need to invest your assets. Whether it is worth listening to them is everyone’s business, because no one has canceled the volatility of the coin and you should always remember about a sharp increase or fall in the cryptocurrency exchange rate. 

However, let's take a look at some of the top analytics teams' predictions for the nearest price for a single Dash coin:

• DigitalCoinPrice says that by 2025 the rate will be equal to $89.43, which is almost 2 times higher than the current price. But by 2030, the exchange rate is predicted at $66.18.
• WalletInvestor believes that Dash will be worth $135.97 by 2027.
• The Reddit Community is paying attention to the dependence of the movement of competitors and the mood in the market, while at the same time it was said about the $200 mark in the near future.
• TradingBeasts writes that Dash is approaching $133.41 by the end of 2022.
• Long forecast says that the coin will float at $161 in the near future.

Well, some analysts and experts are even predicting a stunning price for Dash, which is obviously very hard to imagine now - $2,762. Whether such predictions will come true, we will soon be able to observe. In the meantime, we wish you to approach the purchase of cryptocurrencies with a «fresh head» and wisely invest your assets.