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This week has been another fantastic week with Dash network developments, integrations and general news. Keep reading to get a summary of the week.

Dash Network Developments of the Week:

Dash Hashrate Reaches New All-Time High, Outpaces Competitors: Dash’s hashrate reached a new high of 4.097 petahashes this week, up from the earlier high this year in April of 3.2385 petahashes. This is a 170% increase over the hashrate one year ago of 1.5163 petahashes and much larger increase that Litecoin’s hashrate growth of 63.4% over the same period. Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV have also fared worse since their chain split, Bitcoin Cash only seeing a 85% increase and Bitcoin SV even seeing a a 19.77% decrease. It should also be noted that both Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV SHA-256 mining algorithm, which makes them more interchangeable and also more prone to 51% attack risks. Dash being the largest coin using X11 and its recent implementation of ChainLocks along with its rising hashrate make it more secure against 51% attacks.

Total Dash Masternode Count Hits 5,000 in Sign of Market Demand: This week, Dash’s total Masternode count hit 5,000 with 4,872 of them currently enabled. This aligns with when Dash activated the distributed key generation (DKG) spork to enable long-living masternode quorums (LLMQs) to prevent 51% attacks with ChainLocks and of the total 4,945 masternodes on the network, only 4,704 of them where active since non-compliant Masternodes were kicked off the network. The growing number of total and active Dash Masternodes indicates a clear market demand for Dash and also supports the security and value of Dash since 56.03% of the entire Dash supply is currently backing masternodes, or around $623,694,181 total USD value.

Third-Party Dash Web Wallet MyDashWallet Compromised: Last week, it was revealed that the independently developed MyDashWallet was compromised by a hacker that was able to send users’ private keys to an external server, but once the vulnerability was revealed, Dash Core Group members assisted the developer in correcting the issue. Out of an abundance of caution, anyone that used MyDashWallet between May 13 2019 and June 12 2019 should assume that their private keys are know and move their funds immediately. The bug was caused by loading that latest version, rather than a specific version, of an external script from the script hosting website GreasyFork, which was compromised. Despite the ill effects of hacks, the event demonstrates the Dash network’s commitment to taking care of users in times of crises.

Dash Integrations of the Week:

Travala Now Official Travel Partner of Dash Core Group, Offer 5% Dash-Back: Travala, which integrated Dash last year, has now officially partnered with Dash Core Group as their travel partner, in addition to offering a 5% Dash-back discount on purchases made with Dash. Travala cited Dash’s maturity within the space and focus on creating a cryptocurrency that can actually be used for payments as a reason for the partnership and discount.

iQCashNow Cryptocurrency ATMs Integrate Dash, Expanding Accessibility: iQCashNow has integrated Dash into 250 of their ATMs located throughout Austria, Greece, Turkey and Spain thanks to integration efforts by Dash Embassy DACH. Around 40% of iQCashNow’s ATMs are two-way, while the rest are only one-way, but they plan to only install two-way ATMs in the future. Consumers are able to make purchases up to 500 EUR without verification, which vastly helps improve adoption efforts for those that either do not have bank accounts or value their privacy.

BTC-Alpha Integrates Dash, Adding Liquidity for Russian Speakers: BTC-Alpha was founded in 2015 by a Ukrainian entrepreneur to satisfy cryptocurrency demands by Russian individuals and now serve individuals in Russia, Indonesia, China, Ukraine, India, US, Japan, Vietnam, Germany, and the UK. They cite their focus on security, fast service, and affordable trading rates as a competitive feature and were happy to integrate Dash due to its growing popularity and usage with the cryptocurrency sector.

Dash Core Group Project Updates of the Week:

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

🖥 Completed work to enable signed Windows binaries with the next Dash Core release to provide extra security for Windows users

📱 Completed work on a streaming endpoint for DAPI, which allows SPV clients to efficiently and securely get historical transaction data and proofs via HTTP

🎨 Team resolved a few bug fixes on DashPay and updated the transaction card UI

🤝 Completed the full rollout of the DashWallet (Android) v6.5.1 release, which includes fixes for some crash issues related to resetting the blockchain and restoring backups

Dash Community Outreach of the Week:

Dash Focusing on Solutions for the Real Life Problem of Remittances: This week, Dash Core Group’s CMO, Fernando Gutierrez , sat in on a Dash adoption event where “ Venezuelans in Spain [were] sending money home with @dash_text and @bitnovo “. This was utilizing a previous integration where consumers can easily buy bitnovo gift cards in stores and then redeem them online for Dash and quickly and cheaply send remittances to loved ones. Fernando highlighted that to “[s]olve problems, normals don’t owe you and will only listen if it’s in their own interest” and that Dash is satisfying those interests by making the remittance process cheaper, faster, simpler, and more fun.

General News of the Week:

IRS Plans Deep Research In Search of Cryptocurrency Tax Evaders, Contributes to Increasing Regulatory Pressure: Last week, it was uncovered that the IRS (United States’ Internal Revenue Service) is briefing its special agents in the IRS Criminal Investigation division on further investigation of possible cryptocurrency tax evaders . The full 181 page report and slides were broken down by @CryptoTaxGirl who discovered that the IRS is educating its special agents on how cryptocurrency works, including mixing services, and plans to issue Grand Jury subpoenas to the likes of Apple, Google, and Microsoft to see if taxpayers downloaded any cryptocurrency apps.

Dash Media of the Week:

Dash’s Ryan Taylor: “Bitcoin Screwed Up All Three” Requirements for Mass Adoption: Ryan, CEO of Dash Core Group, recently sat down with the local Phoenix chapter of Startup Grind to discuss Dash’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), his history in the payments industry, and how Bitcoin “was deeply flawed from a payment perspective” and “Bitcoin screwed up all three” payment attributes. Ryan describes these as being faster and cheaper than the alternative, easier to use, and switching incentives. Ryan then goes on to describe how Dash is already satisfying the faster and cheaper attribute with its New InstantSend and ChainLocks that locks-in transactions in seconds for less then a cent. Then Dash plans to release blockchain usernames with Evolution later this year so users no longer have to look at confusing alphanumeric addresses. Finally, Ryan discussed a “Dash-back” switching incentive program where the plan is to switch “the fees over to the merchant side”, have merchants pay less than they currently do for credit cards, but still enough to fund a “loyalty and rewards programs that the merchants can optionally sign up for”.

Isabel pays with Dash Digital Cash at Pizzeria La Romanina in Caracas, Venezuela: Come see Dash News Presenter, Isabel, make her latest purchase with Dash Digital Cash at Pizzeria La Romanina in Caracas, Venezuela.

Dash Podcast 113 – Cryptocurrency in Latin America Feat. Jorge Farias, Cryptobuyer CEO: Join the guys this week as they talk with Jorge about Cryptobuyer’s growing presence in Latin America and plans to increase adoption with ATMs and merchant POS services. You don’t want to miss this valuable knowledge!

Dash continues to power ahead with new developments and integrations that separate it from its cryptocurrency and fiat competitors to becoming a better payments method. As Dash gets closer to being used in more and more payment situations, even more evolutionary developments will occur. Make sure to follow Dash news to get this information, first!