By Sam Stein
At the moment, cryptocurrencies are extremely popular.
You may see articles everywhere claiming that “coins” like bitcoin have increased by astonishing a thousand percent. However, what gives them worth? When did you last utilize bitcoin?
The fact is that it isn't now feasible, partly because of how long it takes to conduct a transaction. But there are other currencies that are starting to look like strong contenders to unseat bitcoin as the leading cryptocurrency.
Although there is a lot to learn about the complexities of cryptocurrencies, the focus of this essay is on locating an investing opportunity.
A Bitcoin Bubble?
Understanding the term “mining” is one thing that is crucial. The basic foundation of cryptocurrency is this. New bitcoins are created in this manner.
To put it simply, the “miner” uses specialized software to solve a challenging math problem and receives fresh bitcoins as payment. The fresh bitcoins are then legally put into circulation after the transaction is recorded in the blockchain.
The mining of bitcoins grows increasingly difficult, time-consuming, and less profitable as more of them are in use. Therefore, even though nearly 80% of all bitcoins could ever be created are currently in use, the final bitcoin won't be created until 2140.
As the majority of people are now aware, bitcoin has experienced a tremendous rally this year. In fact, it has increased by over 1,200% over the previous year, leading many to believe that it is in a bubble.
Over $150 billion worth of bitcoins are now in use. Bitcoin would rank in the top 50 largest American companies if it were a corporation.
Personally, I think that the only reason bitcoin is worth so much more than any other cryptocurrency is because it was the first to get acceptance among the general public. However, that is still significant. It provides room for improvement for other coin creators, at the very least.
The good news is that there are many more cryptocurrencies available even if you believe you have missed the boat with bitcoin. There are frauds, of course, but there are also opportunities.
Dash is one of the apps that I think has genuine, useful applications.
Dash: Electronic Money
First, Dash is more convenient than its competitors. Currently, the average time for a bitcoin transaction is between ten and one hour. Dash aims to become the leading cryptocurrency that can be instantly (in less than one second) exchanged between parties, making it far more useful when it comes to completing purchases offline or online.
10% of newly created coins are given to the Dash DAO, which is one of its most enticing characteristics (decentralized autonomous organization). The DAO is Dash's treasury, to put it simply. It can use $4 million per month at the present price of more than $600 per coin.
It's crucial to understand that no other coin offers this level of ongoing funding. The Dash DAO can create and promote the currency with this funding.
Additionally, anyone can submit a project idea to raise the value of Dash. Thousands of Dash developers then vote on the proposal. An illustration would be working with retailers to make Dash a practical way to buy their products.
Of course, these coders profit from Dash, so they will be drawn to everything that advances and advertises the digital currency.
As a result, there is a feedback loop where the price of the currency rises due to improved funding and marketing, the DAO gets more money, and can therefore further promote Dash.
A Development for Dash
Currently, Dash may be used to make purchases at more than 300 physical establishments and 100 websites. But the marijuana sector might provide the solution.
Currently, banks are not permitted to handle any transactions involving marijuana; all payments must be made in cash. Even putting money from sales in a bank is impossible for vendors.
In addition to the potential for theft, these businesses must pay for the transit and storage of cash. That quickly adds up.
For these vendors, being able to use Dash would be crucial. It would also be fantastic for Dash's price.
The good news is that it has already begun to move in the right direction. In April, Dash teamed up with Alt Thirty Six, a digital payment platform that has agreements with some of the top dispensary business management software providers in the nation.
These software providers monitor transactions for hundreds of delivery services and dispensaries. Therefore, there are already a large number of ways for Dash users to use the currency.
Dash's price has increased by 118% since it was added as a payment option on Alt Thirty Six on October 11. Only one and a half months from now.
Just the Start
Dash still has a lot of capacity to grow in the future, in contrast to bitcoin's $156 billion market valuation, which is merely $4.8 billion.
Dash is just getting started, but it's a terrific start in the marijuana market. Legal sales totaled around $7 billion in 2016. On the illegal market, another $46 billion is thought to have been traded.
And that legal amount is anticipated to be $23 billion by 2021 and $50 billion by 2026 as more stores open and marijuana is legalized in other states.
Once more, Dash is only getting started. It has an advantage over other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin because of its special instant transaction function, which makes it an attractive cash substitute.
