Dash is a cryptocurrency designed to facilitate fast and cost-efficient transactions, with optional support for privacy-enhancing features.
Dash was initially known as “Xcoin” but was quickly renamed to “Darkcoin”. It was designed as a privacy-centric cryptocurrency based on the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. One of the main features of Darkcoin was the ability to send anonymous transactions, something that Bitcoin does not offer.
DarkCoin was eventually rebranded to Dash, which is derived from the term “digital cash”. Dash uses a Masternode Network that allows users to run a masternode if they control over 1,000 coins. Masternode operators are rewarded regularly for providing their services to clients on the network.
Dash’s PrivateSend feature allows users to obfuscate the origins of their DASH coins to improve the privacy of a transaction on the Dash network. Dash also boasts InstantSend technology, in which transactions are verified by the Dash masternode network. Transactions sent through InstantSend are confirmed in seconds.
Users who own Dash masternodes don’t just benefit from fees, but they can also participate in the Dash governance mechanism. Each masternode has one vote that can be used to vote on key decisions regarding the Dash network, and they can also influence how the project’s budget is used.
The Dash mining reward is split into three portions. 45% of the reward goes to proof-of-work miners, 45% goes to masternode operators, while 10% is reserved for the Dash decentralized governance budget. The emission rate of new Dash coins entering circulation drops by 1/14 (~7.14%) approximately every 383 days.
When new Dash coins stop being created (this will happen approximately in the year 2,254), the final supply of Dash will be somewhere between 17.74 million and 18.92 million coins. While this may seem strange, there is a pretty simple explanation – while 10% of the block reward is reserved for budget proposals, it’s not a guarantee that the community of Dash holders actually decides to allocate all of the reserved funds to budget proposals.