Dash Is in Trouble

2018 hasn’t been kind to cryptocurrencies, with every major asset except for BNB recording a loss for the year to date. Dash has been particularly hard hit, slipping from 7th to 14th by market cap, and down 92% from its all-time high. A growing schism, culminating in a motion to replace Dash CEO Ryan Taylor, has thrown another spanner in the works.

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Dash Is on the Decline

Something’s up with Dash. The veteran cryptocurrency, an altcoin staple from back in the day, waning. On most metrics; price (BTC); transaction volume; BTC normalized price; market cap; Dash isn’t looking good. Behind the scenes, meanwhile, a war of wills has caused acrimony in the camp, sparked by concerns over CEO Ryan Taylor’s performance.

Dash is prized for its governance system, whose model has been adapted by many subsequent cryptocurrencies. Usually the sort of proposals tabled at Dashcentral.org are for ways to spend the communal budget, often via initiatives to promote Dash adoption and increase awareness. The proposal titled Demote Ryan Taylor to an Advisory Role isn’t like the others. Posted by user “Saving Private Dash”, it reads: “Ryan destroyed the market’s confidence in Dash by repeatedly breaking promises and missing deadlines. Dash was once valued at 0.09BTC and it is now 0.02, in spite of millions of dollars available to him…None of the 2016 promises were kept.”

“Ryan has grown his company irresponsibly,” continues the proposal calling for his removal. “There are 6,176 DASH available in the budget and DCG [Dash Core Group] has about $500,000 in monthly expenses. Dash is now below $200, and $500,000 / 6176 = $80.95. That means if the DASH price goes below $80…there won’t be funds for any other community projects, but also not enough to pay the salaries of DCG employees. The threshold for complete chaos is probably around $150-$160, because there are other financial obligations that they need to meet besides salaries.” Dash is currently trading for around $148.

A Brief History of Dash

Dash emerged into the world in January 2014, five years after Bitcoin. It was born as a subversive, insurrectionary currency, with its promise of anonymous transactions making it suitable for darknet usage – hence the name, Darkcoin. As the years passed, the project moved from the shadier corners of the web into the bright glow of the clearnet. Along the way, it shed the Darkcoin moniker, like a former emo kid forsaking their Myspace handle, and became Dash.

Until recently, Dash showed all the signs of being a successful cryptocurrency, with its largest criticism to date stemming from the “accidental” pre-mine that furnished founder Evan Duffield with 10% of the total supply. Most of those coins were supposedly distributed to cryptocurrency exchanges on the cheap, though that didn’t stop Dash being the butt of altcoin developer jokes for years. Before the word “shitcoin” came into vogue, there was “scamcoin”, a label that Dash gained on account of its pre-mine, but it was a pejorative administered in jest.

Since 2015, when it was rebranded, Dash has grown substantially, and not just its market cap, but also its support network. The project has one of the most active communities in the crypto space, and has spawned an entire ecosystem of miners, node operators, treasury volunteers, and marketing staff. Up until recently, they’ve all muddled along as an isolated but functional group, largely free of major drama.

Serious Threat or Just Bluffing?

The pseudonymous “Saving Private Dash” claims to have maintained their anonymity because “Dash communities are not welcoming to criticism.” Whoever they may be, they seem determined. Having staked 5 dash to file the proposal, they’re now preparing to file a similar proposal in January if this one doesn’t pass the community vote. “Let’s see how many of you change your mind [in January] after realizing Evolution [a key phase of the project] was not delivered, and deadlines from the roadmap were missed yet again.”

So far, only 92 members have voted in favor of the proposal, and 887 against, but the hundreds of comments posted suggest that, even without being passed, the proposal has succeeded in stirring up the hornet’s nest. Even if its author is only bluffing, they’ve effectively pressured Dash to deliver Evolution by December. Over the next four months, Ryan Taylor’s leadership will face its greatest test yet.

Do you think Dash can recover, or is the cryptocurrency in terminal decline? Let us know in the comments section below.

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