- Dash aims to be a digital cash payment option, and was an early adopter of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)
- Dash’s price soared to over $1500 at the end of 2017, and has experienced volatility since; recently, the coin has traded within the $62 – $72
- Dash’s recent downtrend could shift soon as the market segment is generally bullish based on Dash’s recent announcements, including a push into DeFi
At the time of this writing, Dash (DASH) is trading at $65.75 USD with a market capitalization of $643,945,895, ranking 30 on Coin Market Cap. The altcoin started 2020 strong, rising to ~$120 within the first two weeks of January, but it pales in comparison to its all-time high of $1,622.22 on December 20, 2017.
What’s happened in the past two years and what’ll happen next? We’ll cover just that in this article.
The coin known as Dash started in 2014, and quickly encountered a PR crisis. It was first called XCoin, then rebranded as DarkCoin. Then, the tenacious minds on the dark web started using Dark Coin for illegal transactions. Ironically, one could argue this bad press only boosted the coin’s public profile. It was soon rebranded as Dash.
Dash Price Analysis – Recent Action
Stewarded by Dash Core Group, Dash was an early proponent of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), enabling further decentralization and attracting people’s attention. Dash opened 2018 at ~$1,054, a 9,300% increase from January 2017, and remained one of the largest cryptocurrencies regarding market capitalization throughout 2018.
Still, Dash was on a downward trend throughout 2018. Take March, for example. On March 1, Dash stood at $601.61. By March 31, Dash was trading at $322.89. There were a few peaks and valleys that sent Dash to ~$80 going into 2019. The altcoin was trading at ~$40 going into 2020, then rose dramatically soon after, as noted above.
But it couldn’t sustain a February 13 2020 peak of ~$135 and dropped sharply. Black Thursday, the name given to the crypto crash in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, made Dash nosedive back to the $40 range.
Dash quickly bounced back, but hasn’t touched the $100 threshold since, except when it squeezed by with $100.57 on August 7. The coin started September with $88.20 and dropped to $68.20 just days later. Since then, Dash has traded within the $62 – $72 range.
Dash Bets On Its Security
Dash has been making announcements that might bode well for its future price. In July, they claimed that Dash is one of the world’s safest cryptocurrencies due to its ChainLocks technology, which combines elements of Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake consensus protocols to secure the network.
With ChainLocks, Dash claims a 51% attack is near impossible. Someone would need to first control 51% of the network hash rate, but they would also need to control 60% of the masternode network, which is used to create quorums. Only then could the malicious actor prevent ChainLocks from forming.
They would also need to control 20% of coins in circulation, making the attack very expensive.
In August, Dash announced the launch of a new crypto debit card for Mexico. Dash has been popular in Latin America ever since Venezuela started using the coin in 2018 amidst political turmoil and hyperinflation. Venezuela became one of Dash’s largest markets, alongside Russia and China.
In September, Dash announced a transition towards a decentralized cloud cryptocurrency. In short, Dash will use their masternode network and blockchain to transform its P2P network into a decentralized cloud.
Dash also announced that their native coin should not be considered a privacy coin any longer.
The most exciting news might be that Dash is getting in on the DeFi craze. Dash has partnered with StakeHound to act as a bridge to DeFi. Dash holders will have to first send tokens to StakeHound. In return, holders receive a wrapped ERC-20 representation called stakedDASH.
As of early September, there is approximately ~$8 billion of total value locked in DeFi projects, a four-fold increase since June, and it’s only just beginning.
Price Predictions
Dash has a lot of room to grow, and considering the heights that it has reached in the past, it’s not impossible to imagine it climbs back up.
Trading Beasts sees Dash trading in a range between $54 and $79, hitting ~$64 by December 2020. However, they believe Dash’s price will dip to ~$62 by March 2021, with a similar price for December.
CoinSwitch has a more bullish position. They forecast Dash’s price to reach ~$950 by 2020’s end. Not impossible, but a steep mountain to climb.
Coinpedia believes Dash’s price could reach $100 by December 2020, and perhaps inching closer to $111. You can view the various predictions in more detail here.
While Dash has been on a bit of a downtrend recently, a technical analysis shows a bullish sentiment for Dash. After all, Dash is focused on being a payment-based cryptocurrency, and therefore prioritizes speed, cost-effective transaction costs, and, of course, security. These aspects can help make Dash a more robust and functional coin, paving the way for mass adoption.
While the focus has been on more valuable assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum recently, Dash is poised for an upward market.
