Dash is an altcoin which can be described as a type of cryptocurrency that is open source and peer-to-peer. Furthermore, it is a decentralized autonomous organization, which basically means that the rules of this crypto are written in code. Some of the features of Dash include private and instant transactions as well as a structure that is self-funded and self-governed. Sounds interesting? Well, we already saw something like this in other altcoins. What makes Dash different and what is the story behind it? Let’s see what the prospects of this altcoin are and whether it is reasonable to buy Dash.
Dash actually comes from the expression “Digital Cash” and it had undergone several name changes before it became Dash. Some of its previous names were Darkcoin and Xcoin, but the creators of this altcoin were often associated with the dark web due to the name, and they eventually decided to rebrand. Dash was originally created by Evan Duffield on January 18, 2014. As you can see, it is a fairly new crypto, but it has already gone through a lot of transformations and even some of the controversy. Duffield came up with a hashing algorithm that was completely different from the Scrypt that was the basis for Litecoin and SHA-256 that supported Bitcoin. He named this new algorithm X11, and it had two basic advantages over the competitors: 1. It was ASIC-proof; 2. Miners everywhere could enjoy less power consumption. Only a couple of months later, there was another breakthrough - the Masternode. At that point, Masternodes allowed for a much greater anonymity which was unparalleled at the time. Since then, Dash has had its ups and downs, but the hype around it has remained active. However, not all people are enthusiastic about it, and there were some who had been calling it a scam every now and then in the previous four years.
Currently, the market cap for Dash is approximately $1.6 billion and the average trade volume sometimes goes up over $109 million. The circulating supply of this altcoin is 8,244,207 DASH at the moment, and the maximum set supply is 18,900,000 DASH. It is a mineable coin which is currently located on the 15th place in the list of the most popular cryptocurrencies. Looking at the timeline of this crypto, one can notice that the growth in value compared to USD started in February 2017, and it went up only to hit the ceiling in the second half of December 2017 - it was more than $1,500. This was nothing unusual as this was the period when the general cryptocurrencies hype began and when people were looking for the Bitcoin alternatives to invest in. Dash came in handy there. However, since then, the value has been in a steady and slow decline, and the current price is nearly $200. The word ‘steady’ plays the key role here as it makes it obvious that the system that operates Dash is stable and people trust it, regardless of the fact that its value is getting lower. So why would people trust it in the first place?
There are several factors that put Dash in a slightly better position than Bitcoin and make it a good Bitcoin alternative. Moreover, all of these factors form a firm basis for its price to skyrocket. ● Not expensive: Dash involves much lower expenses than, say, Visa or bank transfers (in most cases, you are not charged anything). ● All the payments are instant: with something called InstantX, the engineers behind Dash made all transactions much faster. ● Privacy levels are great: many blockchain ledgers display the wallet addresses which are used for crypto transactions. Once somebody connects your identity to your address, your online assets, as well as your sensitive data, can be compromised. Dash made sure that this never happens. ● Two-Tier Network: we already mentioned the famous Masternodes which have several powerful features. ● Widespread: Dash has a lot of ATMs located mostly in Europe and the US.
The world of cryptocurrencies is still heavily unstable and no exact predictions can be made. When you look at the declining Dash price, many would predict that it will go on that way for a long time. However, there are predictions that are very positive when it comes to Dash. Moreover, some of the platforms have been brave enough to say that the comeback will be astronomical. They claim that Dash will reach $1,600 by the end of 2018 and the five-year forecast predicts that Dash will go up to $5,200. Nobody can claim anything with certainty - but there is one small and certain thing that you should take into account - Dash is here to stay. When you look at the community that backs it and the software on which it runs, it is impossible for this crypto to be cast out into oblivion.
