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Since getting involved with cryptocurrency back in July 2016 (thanks steemit!), I have been trying to better understand the nature of cryptocurrencies and how these projects might impact society in the long term. It's been a whole lot of reading and learning and not a whole lot of understanding exactly how decisions are made or responsibilities delegated.

Then came Dash.

By now you've heard of the *huge* gains made by dash over the course of the last two weeks. Around Feb. 27th, it was trading around .024 BTC for one Dash and by the very next day it had risen to .034. From there it would continue to increase and as of this post it stands at .062. This is very exciting stuff if you've been holding Dash speculatively. Full disclosure, I am holding Dash, speculatively up to this point, and have very much enjoyed this run. 

But how and why is this happening? What does Dash have or do that is starting to be recognized in the market?

# Dash's Hat Trick

# Trick #1
Dash is heavily focused on making things as simple as possible, simple enough that grandma would be able to set up an account and start holding and spending some Dash. This is a lofty goal in a world where private keys, pgp encryption, and blockchain technology is intimidating to most people. 

Beyond just making it easy to hold and use Dash, "Evolution" is promising to create an ultra easy to use GUI that will allow you to find any merchants on the blockchain that have integrated Dash, add contacts, and even seek out reviews and ratings on products and services. 

For more information on Dash Evolution, check out [their page here](https://www.dash.org/evolution/). Think of evolution as Paypal for the decentralized world. 

# Trick #2

They have strong marketing and social outreach. I dare you to take a look at **_just one_** Amanda B Johnson video and tell me differently. She clearly believes in what she is doing and it is a pleasure to watch. For those of you who haven't heard of her, you're in for a treat. As someone who relatively recently got into crypto (2013), she has become an impressive source of perspective. 

She was so enamored with the Dash mission that she put a proposal onto the Dash network and went from hosting a show about all cryptocurrencies called "The Daily Decrypt," to hosting the Dash-specific "Dash: Detailed," as an employee of Dash. 

You can find her channel [HERE](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiFMZOlhgsYJPIiG0bjT1_SuT5h7NqPCC). This is a highly recommended channel, and the interviews she conducts have given me such great insight into what Dash is about and hopes to be about going forward. 

# Trick #3

I think that this is the most important factor of them all. Dash's governance methodology is the *first* methodology that I was able to wrap my head around in under 10 minutes, probably more like 3 minutes.

In a nutshell, Unlike Bitcoin, Dash has incentivized full nodes (called **Masternodes**). This is important for a couple of reasons because it creates value for those willing to invest the required 1000 Dash and because of what else Masternodes *do*. The reliability provided by the masternodes allows Dash to perform functions such as Privatesend and Instantsend, which are exactly what they sound like. These are the features that I (when I got into crypto) thought were going to be fundamental givens. But after having multiple BTC transactions take the better part of day (one even took a week!), I quickly realized this wasn't the case. These nodes will also enable Evolution to come online, and I believe that will really kick off the party.  

If that's all Masternodes did I'd still be impressed, but they perform an even more interesting function, and one that I believe has caused the value to finally start reflecting appropriately in the market. 

Governance. Of the voluntary sort, of course. 

Dash has got it, and others don't. Or at least they don't in a manner that's easy to understand or participate in. 

# No Masters, Just Masternodes

Besides payment for the services they render, masternodes also have another benefit, and it's one that keeps the system humming along. Voting rights! By acquiring 1000 Dash and launching a masternode, you gain the right to vote on proposals and budgetary items. But is this equitable or fair?

During an Amanda B Johnson video, she touched on this idea of masternodes and why their voting rights is such a *good* features. She shared an anecdote about some conversations on a forum where many people were suggesting tons of proposals or changes to a project. She realized that she wasn't even sure if the parties participating were Dash holders at all. 

This elucidated an important point for me. Anyone can share an opinion, but when *everyone* is sharing their opinions (regardless of investment or not) there is a bottleneck and delays start to occur. For an example of this just look at BTC and the blocksize debate, which I believe is still ongoing. 

Through the Masternode system, Dash was able to come to consensus about whether or not the network wanted to raise the blocksize if/when the time came, all within 24 hours. This is real progress, and although the anonymous accounts on the internet may have good points to consider, they are not stakeholders and should not be able to create gridlock. For more about the blocksize vote you can read what I did, [HERE](http://cryptomining-blog.com/6440-dash-block-size-increase-to-2-mb-has-been-accepted/). 

99% percent consensus in about 24 hours. This is impressive. This is change. 

# Conclusion
Is Dash's Governance Methodology the Most Accessible in Crypto? In my opinion, absolutely! I'm still unclear how Bitcoin comes to consensus in an efficient manner, mostly because I don't believe I've seen it function *that* efficiently. Ever. Granted, there are concerns about this methodology as well. Some are concerned about one player gaining control of the majority of nodes and then crashing the system. I'm not sure I can share this concern, since it would be cost prohibitive to get that many nodes in the first place only to what, crash em and lose your investment? However, if a player wanted to do this and short Dash, I suppose it could happen but seems highly unlikely. 

This isn't to say that Dash is going to be replacing BTC (any time soon, any way), but I can definitely say that for as much as I've come to understand about how Dash works and is governed I am still in the dark on how to move the ball forward significantly in BTC. It is crystal clear how to get things done in Dash: submit a proposal and engage the masternode holders. How do you effect change in BTC... I'm still pretty unsure. 

Is there space for two, and can BTC be the gold to Dash's "dollar"? What do you think?

A lot is still unclear but as a crypto-noob I am very deeply moved by the ease of Dash, their mission, and their governance methodology. Compared to my first encounters with BTC which were thrilling and mysterious, my first encounters with Dash have been thrilling *because* they were easy to grasp.

That's saying something.


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###### I am **definitely not** providing financial or investment advice. 
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