What is Dash?
HISTORY OF DASH
Although it is a very solid currency within the cryptocurrency market, it was not always known by the name of Dash. Its creator, Evan Duffield, devised a project that became known as XCoin so that the currency would later become known as Darkcoin, a name much more in line with his ideal of privacy within the world of cryptocurrencies.
The main idea was not very far from the project that today is known as Dash. At that time, the creation of Masternodes was already in mind in order to sustain the network and the PrivateSend was known as DarkSend.
In this way, the need to implement a new algorithm called “X11” was raised, a deterministic quasi-random algorithm that uses the identification numbers of each and every one of the transactions carried out within the network.
However, the Darkcoin name did not last long. The same community that was created around the currency decided to change the name in order to achieve a greater impact within the trade, from that moment they became what is known today as the Dash cryptocurrency.
In addition to the various name changes, the beginning of Dash was stumbled quite a bit by the event known as “Instamine.” This event caused the coin to have minimal difficulty in being mined and in this way the miners were able to obtain a large amount of coins with extremely low effort and time. The time that this situation lasted was very short because Evan managed to see it in time and corrected it as quickly as he could, but still this error allowed about 1.9 million coins to be mined in a very short time.
DASH ECONOMY
The team behind Dash maintains an official “directory” showing all the places in the world where you can shop using Dash. According to the numbers that are handled within the site, there are more than 4600 businesses in which it is allowed to acquire some type of product or service by paying with this cryptocurrency.
Especially in Latin America it is possible to find several businesses in which Dash is accepted, this is because the Dash Treasury has invested very considerable amounts in order to promote communities in the region that adopt the cryptocurrency. The Dash Colombia, Dash Venezuela and Dash Argentina communities are the largest and this is reflected in the businesses that accept Dash within these countries.
HOW DASH WORKS
How does it Work
Speed and privacy in each transaction, these were the two failures that the developers of Dash observed at the time of creating the coin. Faced with this situation, they said they would do one:
Master Nodes.
The focus on improving the node system that Bitcoin had came after observing that there was a rather serious decrease in active full nodes within the Bitcoin Blockchain network. Furthermore, the fact that the network continued to grow in size would cause the costs for node operators to increase dramatically in the future, making it a rather unfavorable situation.
Thus, as a solution, Dash raised the need to create Masternodes. These master nodes are complete nodes within the network that work in a very similar way to the nodes that Bitcoin uses, but with the added bonus that they offer a greater service to the network and have a link with a collateral in order to operate within the network.
Not everything is roses, being a Master Node within the Dash network has a price. The node has to store a quantity of 1000 DASH in order to be admitted within the network. However, the network provides profits for their collaboration, thus generating in some way a return on investment for the person who owns this Master Node in the event that they have had to acquire those 1000 DASH on their own. According to the Dash White Paper, around 45% of the rewards from each block are shared between the Participating Masternodes.
Thanks to the requirement to have the amount of 1000 DASH to operate a Master Node, the network ensures that absolutely no one can have control of 50% of the network. Having this important control of it would require an excessive purchase of coins that would cause a giant impact on the market.
Addresses
A Dash address is a unique form of identification for each user that is used to make exchanges (either send or receive) cryptocurrencies quickly and easily.
In the world of cryptocurrencies, the address works in the same way as in the traditional financial system, whether it is to send or receive money transfers. Which is to say, it works like a kind of bank account.
Transactions
One of the qualities that Masternodes present within the network is the ability to execute transactions instantly. The provision of the quorum between the Masternodes is done faster than the entire confirmation process that must be expected within a conventional Blockchain network. According to the White Paper, a quorum on the completion of a transaction can be completed in as little as 4 seconds, the time short enough to ensure the speed of each transaction.
How is it Obtained?
Like many other cryptocurrencies, Dash is based on a decentralized record of each transaction, known as the Blockchain. This chain of blocks is secured through a consensus mechanism called “Proof of Work” (or PoW, for its acronym in English). Miners try to solve complicated problems with specialized computers, and when the problem is fixed, they are given the right to add a new block to the blockchain. If all other people using the same program agree that the problem was solved correctly, the block is added to the Blockchain and the miner is rewarded.
Privacy
The peculiarity of PrivateSend does not mean that the transactions that users carry out are not registered within a Blockchain or that they are not transparent to anyone, in reality this option implies the crossing of operations with other users so that in this way the trace of operations.
The PrivateSend system implies that a transaction is the product of the combination of funds from at least 3 parties. This union between users occurs within a Master Node, said union is made without the need to require information that may be a reason for identification.
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