This post is also available in: Deutsch

This week has been another very productive and eventful week for Dash as it progresses towards becoming digital cash. Continuing reading to get a summary of the week.

Dash Network Updates of the Week:

Dash Transaction Spike Uncovers Limitations Patched in New 0.14.0.3 Release: On August 7th there was roughly a million transactions with 1 input 1 output with a fee just higher than 1 duff per byte. Dash Core team members investigated, but could not ascertain the person responsible so it could “either be a stress test by someone outside of the Dash developer community or was an attempted attack”. But the event lead to a few network improvements by Dash Core Group, including InstantSend improvements by removing IS locks as soon as they are confirmed via a ChainLock, which will “reduce the size of the ‘llmq’ directory significantly over time”.

Uphold Integrated Into Dash iOS Wallet Following Withdrawal Fee Removal: The popular exchange that has done over $5 billion USD in transactions and previously integrated into the android Dash Core mobile wallet, has now been integrated into the Apple iOS Dash Core wallet. This comes not too long after Uphold removed their $2.99 fee to withdraw to the Dash blockchain. These developments further Dash’s game plan to make it a ‘one-stop’ shop for payments across as many platforms as possible to reach as many consumers as possible, especially in the remittance process.

Dash Integrations of the Week:

Dash Added to Anonymous Blockchain Messenger Adamant for in-Message Transactions: Encrypted messaging app, Adamamant runs on its own delegated proof-of-stake (dPoS) blockchain with ADM tokens on web apps, Android, and iOS. The new Dash integration will enable users to send and receive encrypted messages while also sending various cryptocurrencies including Dash. Additionally, the platform does not require any previous form of identification, such as email address or phone number, and instead generates a private key and a backup seed phrase. This supplements Dash’s other messaging platform integrations such as Dash Text with SMS texting and Telegram.

Dash Accepted at CryptoRefills For Hundreds of International Gift Cards: Dash Next has integrated a gift card/voucher website that offers gift cards for mobile top ups, music/video streaming, games/apps, hotel stays, and flights all available to be purchase in Dash. The integration supplements the other gift card/vouchers for cryptocurrency websites that Dash has been integrated into, such as Bitrefill and eGifter. Dash Core Group also partnered with eGifter to launch a gift card store directly on the main dash.org website and offer up to 10% discounts through AnyPay’s Dash-back program.

Cryptocurrency Exchange CoinCola Adds First Dash-Naira P2P Trading Pair in Nigeria: The peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange has added Dash to their Nigerian naira pairs, which makes it the first peer-to-peer Dash-naira pair in the country. Coincola previously integrated Dash last October, which brought liquidity to the Venezuelan marketplace and will now do the same for the Nigerian marketplace that previously reached 1.5 billion naira ($4.12 million USD) trading volume on LocalBitcoins.

Dash Added for Parking Payments at Venezuelan Shopping Mall, Surpasses Fiat Payments: A shopping mall in Venezuela has added Dash as a payment method for its parking garage and has already generated around 700 transactions in a month. The new Dash payment system replaces the old fiat payment system that would take over 60 minutes to process and let consumers leave the mall. The Dash Cabimas group, responsible for the integration has been using on-site assistants to educate and sign up over 500 individuals for Dash payments.

Dash Text Expands SMS Wallet to Spain, Telegram Integration to All Americas: The popular service that enables individuals to send Dash via SMS text has now expanded to include Spain, which adds to currently supported countries; Venezuela, Colombia, and the United States. Additionally, they have expanded their Telegram integration to Canada, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and nearly every South and North American country with expansion into Africa and Europe planned for the future. The expansion enables individuals to easily send money back and forth instantly for pennies, which is a significant improvement over traditional remittance services that can charge 2%-10% and take days.

Dash Core Group Project Updates of the Week:

Here’s an update from Liz Robuck, Chief Product Owner, on what’s going on at Dash Core Group this week.

🚀 DashCore v0.14.0.3 release. This upgrade is highly recommended for Masternode Owners and includes database space usage improvements, fixes for signing failures, signed binaries for Windows, and more.

for Masternode Owners and includes database space usage improvements, fixes for signing failures, signed binaries for Windows, and more. ✉️ Completed executive summary of state transition concurrency technical design document and documented the ‘Create Invitation’ process proof of concept. (As a reminder: state transition concurrency ensures consensus is reached by quorums on the proper order of state transitions in Dash Platform.) The ‘Create Invitation’ process will allow for users of DashPay to invite friends to register blockchain usernames.

🕵️‍♂️ Investigated Simplified Object Verification (SOV) and Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) solution in Dash Platform. SPV allows users of light clients like mobile apps to get payment information without having to download the whole blockchain. SOV similarly allows users of light clients to get state transition data (“objects”) without having to download the entire state transition packets.

🏦 Released DashWallet v3.14 (iOS), which includes the Uphold integration and the new price source.

📏 Released DashWallet v6.6.2 (Android) which includes the new price source, as well as in-app messaging and analytics.

🎨 Completed the ‘Paid’ state of the Account Activity screen in DashPay and updated the profile picture; updated the ‘Pay’ flow designs and fixed bugs on the home screen.

General News of the Week:

Private Bitcoin Transactions Over Double All Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrencies Combined: Karen Hsu of BlockchainIntel said that Bitcoin remains the most-used cryptocurrency for private transactions, outpacing all major privacy-focused cryptocurrencies combined. Further, she said that of all Bitcoin transactions, around 4% are mixed. While Bitcoin still has the absolute greater amount of privacy-based transactions, Zcash has a greater percent of its total number of transactions being shielded. Dash still has less than 1% being used as PrivateSend transactions, which counters many narratives by regulators that there is a flurry of individuals using privacy coins for illicit activities.

Walmart Files Cryptocurrency Patent Joining Facebook’s Libra in Challenging Bitcoin: A new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filling by Walmart reveals that they are interested in creating a digital currency that runs and records transactions on a blockchain. Walmart is not new to payment innovation since they currently have their Money Center that provides a host of money services to the unbanked/underbanked, including their Walmart Pay app that cuts down on traditional card payment costs.

U.S. Federal Reserve Announces FedNow Instant Payments to Rival Cryptocurrency: The United States Federal Reserve announced their intent to enter the instant payments sector with FedNow, which will be open 24/7, but is not going to be launched until 2023 or 2024. They currently operate FedWire, which is a real-time gross settlement funds transfer system, but is only open five days a week, only available to accredited institutions, is more expensive, and is not available on mobile phones. Some view the Fed’s entry as more geared towards competing with The Clearing House, a private instant payments alternative created by a partnership of major banks rather than a direct competition against cryptocurrency.

Dash Media of the Week:

Dash News Video Recap – Dash Core Q2 2019, SwapSpace, Bitoffer, Cubobit, Bitnovo, Cobo Wallet & More!: If you missed last week’s major Dash news, make sure to get a recap with Heidi’s latest Dash news highlights.

Crypto Ramble – Living off Crypto, ACTUALLY, with Joël Valenzuela: Joël sits down with Desi-Rae Campbell on her show, Crypto Ramble, to discuss actually using cryptocurrency rather than only speculatively holding. They also talk about adoption and innovation, solving actual payment use cases rather than just building cool tech that individuals do not actually need, privacy and decentralization, Dash’s InstantSend and more. Make sure to tune in to get this valuable knowledge!

Alon Muroch of Blox.io on Bitcoin Accounting, Cryptocurrency Taxes, Dash Usernames: Joël chats with Alon Muroch of Blox.io, a cryptocurrency accounting and business platform that recently integrated Dash, about cryptocurrency businesses evolving from the early days of doing everything by hand to the present day of integrated accounting and full compliance. They also talk about cryptocurrency tax compliance and Dash usernames coming with Evolution and Dash Platform.

Dash Podcast 117 – Feat. Omer Batan Founder of Dash Embassy Turkey: This week the guys are joined by Omar from Dash Embassy Turkey to talk about the Turkish economy, the popularity of gold and cryptocurrency as a protective asset within the country, the use of Dash for trading and remittances, cryptocurrency ATMs aiding liquidity, Dash’s use in gaming, and much more! Make sure to tune in to get this valuable knowledge!

Dash continues to achieve valuable integrations and releases key network updates to keep Dash in the race of becoming digital cash used in everyday payments. Make sure to follow Dash News to see what happens next!