They're paying Dash $50k to help integrate the cool stuff other coins can't offer, right? Hang on... they'll be getting the cool stuff and they'll be profiting from trade fees and they'll be profiting from running masternodes with reserves and they'll be getting $50k from the budget?? So what're we getting out of it? It could have a lot of benefits but it sounds like we're having to eat humble pie just to make InstantSend available, that at least should be a guarantee along with a stack of fiat gateway options open to negotiation. I'd insist on verifiable Dash reserves too but that ain't gonna happen, that's not the way exchanges do business :/
They could get a hell of a lot of business out of this, you can't pay for stuff in 2 second flat with any other coin and that means Dash is the only coin fit for retail, fiat is the only hard part in that process and they're in the fiat business which means if they make that part easy they could be making a cut on every retail transaction. It seems like they're being offered a chance in a million and having to be bribed to take it, every VC wants in on the crypto pie and most would think an offer like that for $50k is a gift. Supporting but I'd like to see that offer waved under a few more noses, they're in no position to drive a hard bargain.
The answer to this question is largely going to depend on your philosophy. What is the goal of the budget system? In *my* opinion, it's to accelerate development of the software and the ecosystem. I would guess that we are AT LEAST a year ahead of where we would be already in terms of ecosystem development, and that as time goes on, this will accelerate. In short, in my opinion, the budget system exists to bootstrap Dash and get it to widespread adoption (and higher price) more quickly. Would this exchange eventually add Dash for free? Maybe, in a couple of years if our trading volumes continue to grow.
However, time is not something that we have in abundance. Make no mistake--crypto, like every other market, is going to be dominated by a few major players. That means that we are effectively competing against every other currency on the market, including Bitcoin, which exceeds our market cap by about 150x. If we ever want to have a chance to eat into some of their advantage, we can't sit back and wait to be noticed. We seize opportunities when they arise. Not only that, but if ONE of the major exchanges adds Dash, it strongly encourages the others to at least consider adding us as well. Furthermore, I think InstantSend, if/when added to the exchange, will drive enormous arbitrage volumes. The other exchanges will find it beneficial to add us as well.
Frankly, at this moment, Dash is a nobody when it comes to crypto. If your company wants to get into crypto, you either go to Bitcoin (150x larger than us) or Ethereum (7-8x larger than us). Nobody in the business world cares about the #6 or #7 (depending on the day) coin, no matter how promising its future. If you want to get people to pay attention to you at this stage, you have to find some big way to get their attention.
Last of all, Dash is in an incredibly vulnerable position right now. If one of our major exchanges, such as Poloniex, were to get hacked or go bankrupt, it would take half the Dash market with it. We need to spread our risk by being on as many exchanges as possible. It's also difficult to consider ourselves a major player if you first have to buy bitcoin before you can buy Dash. Evolution is going to be amazing and increase usability greatly, but if you have to explain to your grandma how she needs to buy bitcoin first and then convert it to Dash, you will lose her before she even gets started.
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With respect to the value of this proposal, remember that all proposals have risks. However, one should consider that if this proposal doesn't pass and those 2k Dash simply never get created, the total number of Dash in February will be 0.0309% smaller, which will represent a 0.0309% increase in the value of your Dash. With a current exchange rate of about $15 per Dash, that means that if this proposal doesn't pass, the price of Dash should ultimately increase by $0.005, or about half a cent. If this proposal increases the price of Dash by even half a cent, it's worth it.
