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Dash (formerly known as Darkcoin and XCoin) is an open source peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). It features instant transactions, private transactions and a self-funded, self-governed organizational structure. Dash is a fork of the Bitcoin software and is referred to as an altcoin.

Etymology
The name 'Dash' is a portmanteau of 'Digital Cash'.

History
Dash was launched in January 2014 by Evan Duffield. The original name was XCoin before rebranding as Darkcoin and then Dash in March 2015. It began as a fork of the Litecoin project, before rebasing to become a fork of Bitcoin in January 2015.

Milestones
There are at least two protocol upgrades planned for the future: Version 0.12.4 will lay the foundations for version 0.13.0 (Evolution) which aims to improve ease of use and deliver functionality 'very similar to Venmo'.

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)
Dash's self-funded, self-governed organizational structure, referred to as the treasury system or decentralized governance by blockchain, makes Dash a decentralized autonomous organization. A global network of masternodes vote on proposals for improving Dash's ecosystem. Approved proposals are funded from the treasury, which receives 10% of all newly created Dash, with 45% allocated to miners and 45% to masternodes.

Dash funded projects
The Dash DAO funds a number of projects. As of 2018, it had granted a total of $33 million worth of Dash, with $2.3 million allocated to projects in developing countries.

ASU Blockchain Research Laboratory
Arizona State University's Blockchain Research Laboratory requested $350k in funding from Dash's treasury to create blockchain-focused scholarships, an online blockchain course and perform research pertaining to Dash. The proposal passed and Arizona State University received funding in December 2017.

Cannabis industry
Alt Thirty Six is a Dash-funded project that provides a payments platform for the legal cannabis industry in the United States. The company received $496,000 in funding from Dash's treasury.

Venezuela
An organization called Dash Venezuela has held 8 conferences as of 2018 in Venezuela aimed at community outreach and promotion of the cryptocurrency. It promotes Dash as a method of payment and operates a Spanish-speaking technical support centre for problems related to Dash. Dash has invested about $1 million in Venezuela, where hyperinflation has led to rapid adoption of the cryptocurrency by merchants.

Zimbabwe
KuvaCash is a Dash-funded startup that aims to offer a payment solution in Zimbabwe. The project received $550k in funding from Dash's treasury and passed with 871 votes in favour to 357 votes against.

Masternodes
Masternodes are servers on the Dash network that enable InstantSend and PrivateSend transactions, as well as governing the network by voting on proposals. This is in addition to the functions performed by a standard 'full node' (hosting a copy of the blockchain, relaying messages and validating transactions on the network).

They are required to have a static IP address and meet minimum requirements for CPU, RAM, disk space and network bandwidth. To incentivize their operation, they receive 45% of all newly created Dash (with 45% going to miners and 10% to the treasury). A proof-of-service consensus protocol ensures that masternodes are online, responsive and have their blockchain up-to-date. Running a masternode also requires ownership of 1000 Dash to prevent Sybil attacks (where an attacker creates a large number of malicious nodes to disrupt the network's operation).

Masternodes were first introduced in March 2014 as part of Dash version 0.9.

InstantSend
InstantSend is a service provided by masternodes, allowing transactions to confirm in under two seconds at the point of sale.

Masternodes validate and lock the inputs of each InstantSend transaction, working in random groups of ten chosen by a deterministic algorithm that uses the current block hash as entropy. The response received from the majority of nodes in a group is treated as correct.