Happy Birthday Dash

18th January 2014 – Dash was officially launched by web developer Evan Duffield. It was initially called ‘XCoin’ however it was renamed to Dash. It was a different coin to the rest right from the very beginning, Evan Duffield not only created a new coin but he also created a new hashing algorithm that separated Dash from the two biggest algorithms, SHA-256 (Bitcoin) and Scrypt (Litecoin). This new algorithm was ‘X11’and it not only ensured Dash would remain ASIC-proof for a long time but it also meant greatly reduced heat and power consumption for miners across the globe. This new algorithm has proven to be extremely popular in fact with a number of other altcoins choosing to use the same hashing technology.

20th February 2014 – DarkSend Alpha made available for testing. The first chance the Dash community was able to see first hand this amazing new anonymizing technology.

3rd March 2014 – DarkSend Beta released. This more functional version had already started to show the world just what Evan Duffield was capable of.

6th March 2014 – 7th April 2014 – DarkSend Beta releases continued, each new Beta improving the code paving the way for the first official Release Candidate 1 (RC1). At the same time, Evan also created the ‘Masternode’ network. These Masternode servers which are operated all over the globe, allow for the anonymization of funds which no other crypto currency can offer.

Not only this, but they provide a completely new income stream for those wanting to invest in crypto currencies but who don’t have the ability or the capacity to run a mining PC or farm.

17th April 2014 – DarkSend RC1 released. Initially only 10 DASH could be sent with DarkSend.

20th June 2014 – The RC3 Hardfork was released which enabled the first payments to Masternode servers. Shortly after however, problems were found with the code which resulting in some unexpected forking of the Dash network.

26th June 2014 – Evan quickly addresses the RC3 issues and releases the RC3 Softfork which would make Masternode payments optional until the code was improved.

13th August 2014 – RC4 Softfork released allowing for more than 10 DASH to be sent via DarkSend. This would now be known as DarkSend+

September 2014 – By this stage, Dash had gained the attention of crypto coin enthusiasts all over the world. Kristov Atlas, one of the leading Bitcoin security and privacy researchers and writers, decided to review the Dash code. He assisted Evan and the Dash development team by finding some minor security vulnerabilities which Evan immediately addressed making the Dash network even stronger.

Shortly after the review in September, the Dash code was officially made open source. A major milestone in Dash’s history to date.

5th October 2014 – Payments to Masternodes were made mandatory, meaning all Dash pool operators would need allocate block rewards to both Masternode owners and miners. This way, both miners and Masternode owners receive a portion of Dash ensuring a strong and secure network.

November 2014 – Evan announces ‘InstantX’. This technology allows for instantaneous transactions to occur much like what Visa and Mastercard offer. No other crypto currency, including Bitcoin can even come close to offering a service like this.

December 9th 2014 – Evan announces 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) to greatly minimize the risks of funds being stolen from wallets.

Dash’s first year has been an exciting journey, with a bigger and better development team and supportive community; there is no telling what Dash will achieve by its 2nd Birthday.