Arizona State University (ASU) announced a partnership with Dash Digital Currency that will provide $ 350,000 to "accelerate research, development and education Funds will be allocated as follows:

The Dash Scholars Program, which provides $ 100,000 in scholarships for Undergraduate and Graduate Research Fellowships;

Open Industry Research and Projects Laboratory, Providing an Additional Funding of $ 100,000 to the Blockchain Research Lab (BRL) of the ASU and $ 50,000 in new funding for the Luminosity Lab, and the development of the Blockchain $ 100,000 for the creation of an online graduate course that should be offered at the University. USS this fall.

The 35 $ 0,000 is funded by Dash, thanks to a well established cash proposal. Dragan Boscovic, Director of the ASU Blockchain Research Lab, commented:

"The ASU welcomes this initiative and is ready to play its part in the creation of the an environment of research and innovation for young talents. "

Fusion of Research and Development

When we think of digital currencies, the community tends to focus on the development of the equation. New software versions, updates to add new features, roadmaps, and more – are usually much more popular than search. However, the exciting new features are made possible by researchers discovering ways and methods to add them.

While Dash Core DAO (distributed autonomous organization) focuses on development, marketing and today, there are at least two research groups working to advance the project. Dash Labs is a CAD founded by Dash founder, Evan Duffield, based in Hong Kong, working to develop hardware solutions for chain-leveling with massive blocks

. improve Dash and solve cryptocurrency problems in general. Last summer, Dash funded the ASU Blockchain Research Lab with a $ 50,000 donation. Ryan Taylor wrote:

"The original research [will] focuses on the throughput capacity and latency of blockchain technology, models it, and evaluates it for different network architectures (including Dash's multi-level architecture), applications, and use cases to provide a "scalability" deployment guide and best practices. "

Taylor notes that the partnership is exclusive:

"Until now, the majority of Blockchain research has been focused on Bitcoin, with a minimum of concentration on other Blockchain applications … The sponsorship incorporate [s] Dash as exclusive digital currency for academic research in progress. "

Bitcoin and MIT

Dash is not the only digital money project to associate with a large university . In the summer of 2015, MIT launched the Digital Currency initiative and solicited donations that were used to hire three full-time Bitcoin developers. This decision followed the actual collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation, which provided much of the funding for development. In reality, they do not come from MIT, but come from outside donors and are channeled through the digital currency initiative.

In May 2016, MIT raised $ 900,000 to fund the salaries of these developers. Later that year, that number increased to $ 2 million. This funding is crucial, as the Nasdaq points out:

"The financing of Bitcoin development seems to have always been problematic."

While some developers are eager and able to work full-time on open source projects like Bitcoin without compensation, most are not.

A Different Financing Method

While MIT has serious assets for raising funds, the altruistic dependence of others is always a fragile proposition. While most digital money projects rely on donations or an initial endowment (via ICO) to finance development, Dash has chosen a different method. Dash self-finances its development team, paying developer salaries on a portion of the rewards en bloc.

Each month, 10% of block rewards are reserved for successful cash proposals. This means that up to 6,650 DASH, worth $ 5.8 million at the time of going to press, can be paid directly by the network to those who are successful in passing their proposals for Treasury. Dash's treasury system finances marketing efforts, business development and integrations, conference sponsorship and more.

Most importantly, Dash's cash flow pays Dash Core developers' salaries each month. At present, Dash employs 50 people, including 23 developers, four project managers, eight marketers and 15 other administrative staff. These team members are paid a total of $ 300,000 a month, directly from Dash's cash system. No donations are needed, and no one is required to work for free

This is the cash system that funded the $ 350,000 partnership with ASU.

Direction of Influence

One of Dash Community members who go by the handle of "AuntStefana", wrote that while the MIT is funding the development of Bitcoin, Dash finances the ASU research laboratory. She points out that the direction of influence is completely different: Bitcoin depends at least in part on the goodwill and fundraising efforts of MIT. This means that the university could theoretically attempt to influence the project

With the partnership between Dash and ASU, money and influence flow in the opposite direction. This is Dash which provides funds to the ASU, which prevents the university from exerting any influence on the project.

Good fit

Cointelegraph had the opportunity to speak with Dragan Boscovic, director of Blockchain ASU. Research Lab, who commented on why Dash is so good for the university:

"First, the Dash Core team offices are at SkySong Innovation Center's The ASU in Scottsdale, where the Blockchain Research is located is also located, allowing for an excellent level of interaction between Dash, ASU faculty and students in a variety of disciplines, including computer science, computer science and technology. Engineering, business and law.Secondly, ASU focuses on "building problem solvers and entrepreneurs", with a large research and development budget.Dash is one of the digital money solutions the most innovative with revolutionary algorithms, a network topology and services.C is a natural partnership.Thirdly, there has been a strong demand for an online graduate course focused on facilitators and applications of the Blockchain technology The course will help Blockchain find an accelerated path to fast, traditional adoption. "

When asked what distinguishes Dash from other digital currency projects, Boscovic replied: