DASH is a digital currency that allows anyone, anywhere in the world, to make quick, easy, and cheap payments at any time without going through a central authority. DASH offers a secure and easy-to-use payment method without barriers based on a decentralized person-to-person network and protected by strong cryptography. Users can purchase at thousands of merchants and trade it at significant exchanges around the world.

DASH is based on the idea of Bitcoin but provides other elements of its own such as Master Nodes, a structure that allows the operation of a DAO within the Dash ecosystem.

DASH was released on January 18, 2014, by founder Evan Duffield.

The most distinctive features of DASH are the options for sending PrivateSend transactions (crossing operations with other users to make it challenging to track operations) and InstantSend (a quorum on the completion of a transaction can be formed in 4 seconds). Both allow users to send shipments privately and instantly. The PrivateSend option is one of the most notable singularities from DASH.

Like Bitcoin, it has limited production, in the case of DASH set at 18,900,000 coins. According to the project developers' estimates, this number will be reached approximately in the year 2150.

A block of Dash is generated every 2.6 minutes, almost a quarter of the time it takes for the Bitcoin network (10 minutes). Each block's reward is reduced each year by 7.14%, a reduction much faster than the Bitcoin network's halving.

According to the Dash White Paper, around 45% of block rewards are shared between participating Masternodes. By requiring the need to have 1000 DASH to operate a Master Node, the network ensures that no one can control 50% of the network. The system allows a random number of Masternodes to confirm operations without the need for the entire network to participate in the process, significantly reducing the time and cost of operations.

Dash is technically a fork of Litecoin, but Litecoin is a fork of Bitcoin, so there are links between Dash and the original Bitcoin blockchain.

1) What is Dash Wallet?

The DASH wallet is the reference wallet maintained by the core DASH group. Intuitive and secure, it connects directly to the DASH network, which means there are no servers to be hacked or to crash. Even if the smartphone is lost, damaged, or stolen, funds can be quickly recovered using the personal recovery phrase.

The DASH wallet sends and receives payments in seconds, with biometric authentication, using a button for merchants and websites that accept DASH. It also allows the sweeping of paper wallets for cold storage.

The DASH wallet is of the 'light wallet' type. Light wallets are wallets that work using a connection to a series of servers that allow them to obtain all the information they need about the cryptocurrency payments they make. It is a simplified form of a wallet that makes it unnecessary to run a full node while maintaining the right balance between security and usability.

In other words, the DASH wallet is a wallet in a few megabytes instead of a few hundred gigabytes, which is excellent for smartphones. It operates with an SPV payment verification system that makes it possible for wallets to download only a small part of the blockchain. And although they cannot verify a transaction themselves, they rely on other nodes on the network to verify that the transaction has been validated and added to the blockchain.

Despite depending on an external node, light wallets store private keys within the same device that executes them and not on an external server. Thanks to this, our funds are high security by never informing the node of what the private keys are.

Light Wallets can be desktop wallets and online wallets. However, the most common are mobile wallets.

On the other hand, full node wallets download the entire blockchain of a cryptocurrency. They make that the device that runs them becomes a node on the network. However, it must be clarified that the fact that they become nodes does not imply that they will be miners. Instead, they will help to the decentralization of the network and in the verification of transactions of the entire system.

The DASH wallet is open source and free. Network fees are lower than most cryptocurrencies, and there are no additional centralized costs.

2) Dash Wallet Features

Despite depending on an external node, light wallets store private keys within the same device that executes them and not on an external server. Thanks to this, our funds are high security by never informing the node of what the private keys are. So you have control of the private keys.

DASH wallet does not require downloading the complete blockchain. You can verify payments through a Merkle tree test to confirm a specific transaction. Once the proof is verified, the wallet confirms the block where the transaction is to ensure it is within the blockchain. After verifying these two processes, the transaction will be considered correct and included in the wallet as income or expense. You should not worry about the private keys' security since the DASH wallet does not store them on its servers or online. It protects them within the same devices that run the application, so they are out of third parties' reach as long as the computers and devices are protected.

You don't need a verification/registration to use your DASH wallet. You have to download the wallet, set a personal PIN, and will receive a mnemonic phrase to keep with you. This is your private key, and you should not share it with anyone.

Download your DASH wallet

To receive Dash, you must first create a receiving address to give to the sending party. Either copy a current address by clicking on the address and then the Copy button, or create a new address by clicking the New button. You can also edit an existing address by right-clicking and selecting Edit address from the context menu. Give this address to the person who will send you Dash.

When checking your crypto address, you may have noticed that the address currently displayed differs from the one you have seen listed in the past. Usually, the DASH wallet automatically generates a new address for you after every transaction you make or when funds are moved between your wallet and an existing storage system. This is done to protect your privacy so that a third-party cannot view all other transactions associated with your account entirely by using a blockchain explorer. All addresses that have been generated for your account will remain associated with your account forever. They are safe to re-use to receive future payments.

The DASH wallet supports are: scan QR code to pay, send to an address, buy, sell and receive.

It is not possible to handle other cryptocurrencies in the DASH wallet. Just DASH. However, you can transfer or buy DASH with an account from another wallet.

3) How to store Dash Safely?

In the case of currencies like Bitcoin, an incredibly unique and unrepeatable address is used. These addresses have a key mathematically related to the private key we generate when we start our wallet. The addresses that we can create are practically endless, which helps us maintain our privacy and security.

Every time you generate a new address, you can use it to receive payments, and, thanks to the password, you can manage your balance whenever you need it. Your wallet entirely controls these private keys. What cryptocurrency wallets store are not the cryptocurrencies themselves, but the private keys that authorize you to perform operations on the addresses they are associated with.

A phrase as common as saying 'I have X bitcoins' is not technically correct. The only thing you have are the private keys capable of managing the addresses that are allocated X amount of bitcoins in the blockchain. What is recorded and confirmed on the blockchain is ownership of the corresponding amounts between different addresses. Private keys are the only way to access the cryptocurrencies associated with them. If you lose your private keys, you lose your coins, so the way to keep your coins safe is to prevent by all means that someone can access these keys and avoid losing them.

The seed phrase is a set of between 12 to 24 words, which are intended to offer you a comfortable and straightforward way to support your wallet. If control over it were to be lost for any reason, we could regain it just by using these words in the order they were initially given to us.

The wallet developer implements the seed phrase functionality following the BIP-39 standard or some derivative of it. The BIP-39 is focused on offering us a method of generating private keys using a series of mnemonic words that help support our wallet and at the same time guarantee the construction of secure private and public keys.

The BIP-39 randomly takes words (usually from the English language, although they can be from another language) and creates a long sentence (usually 12-24 words) out of them. Here the greater the number of words, the greater the entropy and security attributable to the resulting sentence.

Of course, these words are chosen from comprehensive dictionaries with good entropy (randomness) to guarantee the best possible security.

Once the wallet algorithms have created this series of words according to the user's selection or their internal configuration, the user is asked to save them in the same order in which they were given. This point is essential because otherwise, the wallet cannot be rebuilt if we need it. Also, the wallet will then ask us to enter these words in the same order.

These are some recommendations for you to secure your seed phrase.

1. First, when configuring the wallet, a precise copy of the seed phrase must be made. No typos and in the specific order in which it is displayed.

2. It is advisable to make several backup copies of this phrase and save them in different and safe places.

3. Write them down on paper and keep them in a very safe place, a safe box, for example. Backup copies of Seed Phrases should NEVER be kept in emails, images, or other digital media if they have not been encrypted.

4. Many wallets allow you to add extra security layers, such as setting a PIN or password to reinforce security.

5. If, at the time of setting up your wallet, you have the opportunity to set up your seed phrase, don't do it. For security reasons, it is best to let the wallet software randomly generate the seed phrase.

4) Top 5 things to know about DASH:

1) According to a statement released by DASH, users can make purchases at least 155,000 retailers and 75 websites due to the recent investment made by the Dash Investment Foundation (DFI) in the mobile payment platform CrayPay.

2- Like email, DASH is an open protocol that is not under any particular entity's control. Anyone can write software to transact on the DASH network without the permission of a central authority. Other than the minimum fees required to prevent spam attacks, there are no barriers to using DASH.

3- DASH puts you in full control of your money. DASH can be sent or received by anyone, anywhere in the world, at any time. There are no holidays, exchange rates, bureaucracy, or hidden fees to deal with.

4- DASH transactions are irreversible. This means that transactions are instant and final, protecting merchants from costly fraudulent chargebacks.

5- Unlike many other digital currencies, DASH transactions are secure and visible to the entire network in less than 1.5 seconds. See here some places where you can go shopping using DASH.

5) Conclusion

DASH is still, like all cryptocurrencies, in the acceptance process. DASH is not yet as accepted as other payment methods. Many traders have never heard of DASH. Moreover, as a relatively new coin, Dash's market value is still not stable. These day-to-day changes can discourage users and merchants from transacting in DASH or retaining DASH after completing a transaction.

During the historical bull markets of 2017, DASH, like other cryptocurrencies, skyrocketed by more than 8,000%. 1 DASH sold for $ 1,494.

During 2018, Dash's price decreased from $ 1,300 to $ 80. Furthermore, the market capitalization decreased from $ 12 BLN to $ 600 MLN.

In January 2020, the cryptocurrency was trading around $ 35.

Today's (March 2021) price of a DASH is $ 210.62

The year 2021 looks very positive for the price of the DASH coin. The team is establishing partnerships with payment systems and with small and large companies. By the end of 2022, DASH could trade around $ 402.

The company plans to link up with more merchants and payment processors, which would increase the value of the tokens. This could also help cryptocurrency investors. DASH is undoubtedly expected to have and be one of the best in its potential to be successful. By the end of 2025, DASH could reach $ 435 as it will be one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.

Disclaimer. This post was written for the sole purpose of describing the DASH ecosystem and in no way constitutes financial advice. Nothing written herein cannot and should not replace the mandatory research that anyone must carry out before investing in risky assets.