What is Darkcoin?

Darkcoin is a cryptocurrency - a digital, decentralized, secure payment method that is designed to keep its users' identity secret. The "coins" are denoted by a digital signature and are recorded in a public ledger, so they can't be forged. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, debuting in 2009. Cryptocurrencies are independent of governments. For many people, this is cryptocurrencies' greatest advantage over government-regulated currencies, making them very popular among people skeptical of government authority. The anonymity and difficulty of tracing cryptocurrency exchanges also makes them popular among online criminals. Darkcoin was created in January of this year by Evan Duffield and Kyle Hagan. Currently, one Darkcoin is worth about $7. Only a month ago, though, one Darkcoin was worth only about 75 cents. It's a sign of how quickly this currency's popularity has exploded in recent weeks.

The dash inventor

Behind the cryptocurrency, which was initially launched as Darkcoin, is Evan Duffield, a software developer from Arizona. Among other things, he has already worked for the US bank Wells Fargo , so he has experience in the financial world. After discovering Bitcoin in 2010, Duffield discovered his enthusiasm for the virtual currency. In order to make Bitcoin even more anonymous, he developed a code that he believed could have improved crypto gold on this point. However, the Bitcoin developers rejected the American's code. Duffield quickly developed its own digital currency - the Darkcoin, as can be seen from a contribution by the inventor in the Dash Forum.

That is behind the cyber currency

To offer a virtual coin with optimized anonymity, Evan Duffield launched his own cryptocurrency in 2014. For the concept, he implemented the mining algorithm X11, which should enable a development curve similar to Bitcoin mining, in order to create a "healthy ecosystem" according to Duffield. According to its own statements, the software developer announced the self-created Altcoin on the "BitcoinTalk" platform and published it a little later. Since March 2015, the peer-to-peer cyber currency has officially got its final name Dash, after it was temporarily renamed XCoin. The dash also shows the typical crypto quality of the decentralized organization. According to the official website, it is the "most user-friendly and scalable" digital currency worldwide. For example, the network confirms the user's transactions within a very short time. In addition, the dash stands out from many other cryptocurrencies thanks to optimized data protection and anonymity. Since it is a bitcoin-based alternative, it is compatible with other Bitcoin environments and has a transaction speed in real time.

Difficulties in starting reduced trust

Shortly after the start of his cryptocurrency, however, Duffield discovered a deficiency in the mining process: the limit for newly created payment units was incorrect, the difficulty in mining could not be increased quickly enough by the system, so that in the first two days two million coins could be mined - which corresponds to a quarter of the current amount in circulation. The shaky start made it difficult to build trust in the freshly launched virtual coins in the crypto world, as there were and are deceptive cyber currency projects. However, the dash project was further developed and has since established itself in the front rows of virtual coins.

Dash among top 15 largest cryptocurrencies

According to this website, there are currently almost nine million dash in circulation, the digital currency has a market capitalization of $ 1.09 billion (as of April 23, 2019). The cyber currency peaked at around $ 1,530 in late December 2017.