Dash (cryptocurrency)

History

Dash was originally released as XCoin (XCO) on January 18, 2014. On February 28, the name was changed to "Darkcoin". On March 25, 2015, Darkcoin was rebranded as "Dash". Within the first hour of launch, approximately 500,000 coins were mined, followed by another 1,000,000 coins in the next 7 hours and finally another 400,000 in 36 hours. All told 1.9 million coins were mined in 48 hours, or approximately 32% of the current supply (as of October 2015) of approximately 5.9 million, generating controversy regarding the initial distribution of coins. According to Duffield, this was the result of an error in the code "which incorrectly converted the difficulty, then tried using a corrupt value to calculate the subsidy, causing the instamine". Duffield claims in the official bitcointalk.org thread (mirrored) that "Dash has no premine and was fairly and transparently launched".

At the time Dash (then called Xcoin) was launched, the cryptocurrency space was riddled with scams. People were creating new currencies, hyping their value, then dumping them and abandoning the project. Many likely feared the same for Dash. However, since Dash's launch, there has been over three years of development, leading to a cryptocurrency that has over 50 volunteers and has solved such vexing issues as slow confirmation times, block size increases, decentralized governance, and a self-funding development budget.

According to CoinMarketCap, in February 2017 the daily trade volume of Dash was ~2% of the total trade of all cryptocurrencies, and the market capitalization of Dash was ~205 million US dollars. Dash has become the most active community on BitcoinTalk reaching more than 6000 pages, 122k replies, 6.6M reads.

PrivateSend

PrivateSend is a coin-mixing service originally based on CoinJoin. Later iterations used a more advanced method of pre-mixing denominations built into the user's wallet. The implementation of PrivateSend also allows masternodes to submit the transactions using special network code called DSTX, this provides additional privacy to users due to the deadchange issue present in other CoinJoin based implementations such as DarkWallet and CoinShuffle.

DarkSend rebranded to PrivateSend June 2016.

In its current implementation it adds privacy to transactions by combining identical inputs from multiple users into a single transaction with several outputs. Due to the identical inputs, transactions usually cannot be directly traced, obfuscating the flow of funds. PrivateSend makes Dash "Fungible" by mixing the coins in the same denomination with other wallets, ensuring that all coins are of the same value.

InstantSend

InstantSend is a service that allows for near-instant transactions. Through this system, inputs can be locked to only specific transactions and verified by consensus of the Masternode network. Conflicting transactions and blocks are rejected. If a consensus cannot be reached, validation of the transaction occurs through standard block confirmation. InstantSend purportedly solves the double-spending problem without the longer confirmation times of other cryptocurriencies such as Bitcoin.

InstantX rebranded to InstantSend June 2016.

Masternodes

PrivateSend's mixing is performed by Masternodes, servers operating on a decentralized network which have the responsibility of signing the transactions. For each round of PrivateSend, the user selects two to eight (or even more) rounds of mixing which vary the degree of anonymity achieved. Random Masternodes are then elected to perform the coin mixing. Masternodes are trust-less cryptographic technology, in the sense that they cannot steal user coins, and the combination of multiple Masternodes ensures that no single node has full knowledge of both inputs and outputs in the transaction process.

To avoid the possibility of sybil attack, a process where a peer-to-peer network is overtaken by "bad actors", collateral requirements have been added to the process of joining the Masternode network second tier. These are presently 1000 DASH and allow secure network communication in via signed messages. As an incentive for operating a Masternode, chosen nodes currently earn 45% of the mining rewards. In February 2017, it was demonstrated that a 'Lazy Masternode', or one that does no work other than respond to pings, is paid just the same as functional masternodes and is not removed from the network.

Governance and funding

Dash is the first decentralized autonomous organization powered by a Sybil proof decentralized governance and funding system. DGBB or Decentralized Governance By Blockchain as it's called is a decentralized process by which the network determines where money is spent. Each Masternode operator is given the ability to use 1 vote on each governance proposal, which is a completely open and decentralized process. Community interaction with proposal submitters is done usually through community driven websites, like DashWhale. These websites allow proposal submitters to provide multiple drafts, then lobby for community support before finally submitting their project to the network for a vote. After the submitter has enough support, the network will automatically pay out the required funds in the next super block, which happen monthly.

The funding system saw growth of its month revenue, from originally ~$14,000 in September 2015, to nearly $30,000 in March 2016. Eventually the budget system can theoretically scale to $9M per month at a market cap of $500M.

Since its inception, the project has used the system for important assets like acquiring dash.org, adoption into the Lamassu ATM and the Dash N' Drink instant soda machine, along with funding many public events.

Game theory

Masternodes utilize a cryptographic bond model, which results a supply and demand market between the interest rate Masternodes are paid and the risk of holding the underlying asset. Early on in the history of the asset, the high return caused a massive uptake of Masternodes, starting from about 500 in Oct 2014 and increasing to 4363 in January 2017.

Alternatives

Zerocoin, Cloakcoin and DarkNet also have built in the mixing services as a part of their blockchain network.

Monero uses native privacy with ring signatures, stealth addresses and confidential transactions. It is currently the only coin other than Bitcoin used on the dark web.

The Dark Wallet client software for bitcoin was built to natively mix transactions between users.

Controversies

Within the first hours after the coin's launch, an error was present in the code which allowed the mining of around one quarter of all coins that ever would be created. This, combined with the unclear information given surrounding the launch announcement, gives the possibility that the founder, Evan Duffield, holds up to one quarter of the total Dash currency.

The Masternode system is currently a Proof of Stake system with a goodwill or opt-in Proof of Service system, whereby it is possible to be paid despite the node not contributing to the network. This is accepted by the development team, and they state that a full Proof of Service system will be implemented later with the Evolution updates.