What DASH needs to set it above all other cryptos

[DeepBlue]

The concept of crypto currency was designed initially using the best of traditional money systems e.g. Gold. Being of limited supply, requiring work to mine, being fungible etc. However what I feel is missing is stability i.e. a coin that does not vary in price closely linked to DASH.

If you consider that even in the current financial system there is transaction fiat money and also a "stable" storage asset which is currently gold. Banks and even Governments hold Gold as a "stable" means of storing value. Cryptocurrencies are not mimicking yet these two functions. They are only doing one or the other but not both.

If DASH is to replace the current financial system I feel we must have some form of additional stable twin DASH coin to accompany our current DASH transactional coin.

Businesses cannot run their operations effectively and pay their due taxes or even budget with a currency that is volatile. They need a stable currency. My understanding is that Evan Duffiled envisaged that the DASH price would become more stable the more people used the currency. That is true to a degree however we have to get to that point first and I do not see how we can get to that point unless we have stability in the digital currency. Companies need stability in order to have confidence in transacting in a crypto currency. Not only this some industries such as food run on very small margins and simply cannot tolerate volatility. Many of the essential products and services for life i.e. where people cannot survive without out them, run on low margins however those are the exact products that cryptocurrency must operate in for mass adoption to occur.

My belief is that most businesses are currently using DASH and other cryptos most likely because they see it as "cool" or a new trend and worth having some DASH just in case it becomes the next big thing. However my opinion is that currently companies do not see DASH or other crypto currencies as a viable currency for stable, regular day to day commerce. What we need is stability and preferably a currency that is more stable that than the USD and Euro which is worth on average half its value every 10 years.

What I feel DASH needs is a twinned coin, I will call it DASH Stable or Dash Gold. this would be a stable coin that companies could move their DASH earnings to. Our current coin is geared towards transactions but the second coin would be geared toward maintaining a constant value.

I would propose that the stable coin not be pegged to any fiat currency like the USD or Euro. Instead the twin stable DASH coin would be pegged to the value of a basket of items (around 80,000 https://www.thebalance.com/cost-of-living-define-calculate-compare-rank-3305737) that people need on a day to day basis and to ensure that the stable coin can always buy the same basket of items whether it is now or in the future. The stable coin would be locked against the cost against that basket of good unit price. In this way the DASH stable coin would be of more value than fiat currency which depreciates with time.

DASH's current coin would be used for day to day transactions however merchants could lock in their earnings seamlessly with the DASH stable coin ensuring that their earnings are maintained.

I have studied a few stable coins however the one that seems of interest is the Maker DAO coin.

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/maker/

This coin uses a clever way to incentivise users to buy or sell should there be price fluctuations. If you look at the charts on coinmarketcap you can see that this coin has pretty much maintained its value right the way through the bear market.

I would like to propose that Even Duffield and the DASH core team consider developing a DASH stable coin that would work seamlessly with our current DASH coin so that businesses could transfer their earnings to this new stable coin and use the current DASH coin for transactions. I feel this could give DASH a significant advantage over other coins which are either volatile like Bitcoin or completely stable like Tether or Maker DAO.

Once we have a stable twin coin businesses with low margins such as the food industry would consider DASH as a working currency. If we could ensure the stable coin is also linked to a basket of goods so that it holds its value in 50 years or more then it would be of considerable greater valuable than fiat currencies and businesses would naturally move towards using DASH.

I feel the main reason we do not have mass adoption yet is because what crypto has to offer is not yet giving enough value for businesses to want to move over to using it. A twin coin DASH transactional and DASH stable could give businesses and individuals just what they need to transition from fiat to using DASH as their preferred means of value store and exchange.

 

[AgnewPickens]

Most PoS integrations Dash has are currently allowing Merchants to convert Dash directly to fiat upon closing a sale, I see your point about stability, but the pain point seems to be more on the user end right now, than the merchant side. I don't see how integrating a stable coin platform is any better solution than having buyers buy and spend Dash as they need it as well. Investors are willing to weather the ups and downs, but at the interface of commerce, I am betting our best option is thru the existing fiat interfaces already in PoS systems being added to the network like Alt36, which will have the PoS solution as well as ATMs for Point of Purchase as well as Point of Sale.

 

[DeepBlue]

Most PoS integrations Dash has are currently allowing Merchants to convert Dash directly to fiat upon closing a sale,

Thank you for your comment.

A POS system may or may not have the ability to instantly convert DASH to a fiat currency but even if it did places with high inflation such as Venezuela would not benefit from this because the currency they would convert to would be unstable. Purchasing another country's fiat currency is problematic in Venezuela where a special license is required even to hold a USD account. In addition merchants may or may not even know how to use a POS system that could convert DASH to fiat. There may also be merchants that have a POS that does not permit conversion of DASH to fiat. Many merchants are not technically minded and if the tech is not straight forward and easy to use they will not use it. If however the DASH stable coin is built into the protocol and an automatic chron job is set up to convert the currency at the end of each day or whenever the merchant chooses to DASH stable then their problems are significantly reduced because optional stability is built into the coin at the protocol level. Once the merchant has his funds locked in Dash Stable he can cash out whenever he chooses. Alternatively once the DASH stable exists merchants may not even wish to convert to fiat currency.

The DASH stable coin also has many other benefits, not just for merchants, for end users also. They want to have a safe store of value. I am referring now to "day to day" users of the currency such as those in Venezuela and Colombia. Speculators and traders would of course prefer the DASH transactional coin as there is the upside possibility of a DASH price increase however if a bear market is looming then they too can benefit by locking into DASH stable without having to go to an external exchange. In addition DASH Stable would be designed to work seamlessly with DASH transactional without having to leave the DASH wallet - something that is not possible with any other stable coin. In addition all the other benefits of owning your own money on your own hard wallet is possible with DASH stable but not with fiat currency where it can be confiscated as has happened many times previously in places like Brazil, Argentina, and Cyprus etc.

The goal is make DASH a coin that at the very minimum will *replace entirely* the current financial system but in reality provide something that is infinitely better than the current financial system. To do this we need to move away completely from using fiat currency and for this reason I proposed that the Core team and Evan Duffield at least consider this rationale as something worth consideration.

 

[AgnewPickens]

Replacing the current financial system, that should also involve a change in how business is done, I can see arguments for stable coins, but we already have 6 firmly planted in the top 100 on CMC, does it make sense to develop another when there are already existing options, wouldn't integrating an existing coin like DAI or USDT make more sense? And for most purposes still, merchants have to pay their bills in the local fiat, adding a stable coin really does nothing to reduce friction, it may however allow merchants and consumers the luxury of holding onto their crypto assets thru market volatility, if that is what they desire to do, but as an online Dash merchant myself, I am more concerned with the pain points and friction on the consumer end right now, I would rather see more effort in getting fiat gateways up than what you suggest.

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

Thank you for your comment.

A POS system may or may not have the ability to instantly convert DASH to a fiat currency but even if it did places with high inflation such as Venezuela would not benefit from this because the currency they would convert to would be unstable. Purchasing other country's fiat currency is problematic in Venezuela where a special license is required even to hold a USD account. In addition merchants may or may not even know how to use a POS system that could convert DASH to fiat. There may also be merchants that have a POS that does not permit conversion of DASH to fiat. Many merchants are not technically minded and if the tech is not straight forward and easy to use they will not use it. If however the DASH stable coin is built into the protocol and an automatic chron job is set up to convert the currency at the end of each day or whenever the merchant chooses to DASH stable then their problems are significantly reduced because optional stability is built into the coin at the protocol level. Once the merchant has his funds locked in Dash Stable he can cash out whenever he chooses. Alternatively once the DASH stable exists merchants many not even wish to convert to fiat currency.

The DASH stable coin also has many other benefits, not just for merchants, for end users also. They want to have a safe store of value. I am referring now to "day to day" users of the currency such as those in Venezuela and Colombia. Speculators and traders would of course prefer the DASH transactional coin as there is the upside possibility of a DASH price increase however if a bear market is looming then they too can benefit by locking into DASH stable without having to go to an external exchange. In addition DASH Stable would be designed to work seamlessly with DASH transactional without having to leave the DASH wallet - something that is not possible with any other stable coin. In addition all the other benefits of owning your own money on your own hard wallet is possible with DASH stable but not with fiat currency where it can be confiscated as has happened many times previously in places like Brazil, Argentina, and Cyprus etc.

The goal is make DASH a coin that at the very minimum will *replace entirely* the current financial system but in reality provide something that is infinitely better than the current financial system. To do this we need to move away completely from using fiat currency and for this reason I proposed that the Core team and Evan Duffield at least consider this rationale as something worth consideration.

Thanks for letting me in+comment.
Agree with all 2, DeepBlue included.
To last comment:
To include Venezuela, Cyprus etc., I suggest silver (or gold, if big values) as alternative to "cash" in Dash after a merchandice, deal or similar ends successfully. This to enable international money transfers fast, neutral, simple, stable and trustable.

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

Thanks for letting me in+comment.
Agree with all 2, DeepBlue included.
To last comment:
To include Venezuela, Cyprus etc., I suggest silver (or gold, if big values) as alternative to "cash" in Dash after a merchandice, deal or similar ends successfully. This to enable international money transfers fast, neutral, simple, stable and trustable.

Actually the alternative value can be anything agreed upon of the involved if the value's objective & substantial, like a house, herd of sheep, a jewel.

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

The latter, agreed, flexible value, may complicate &/or expand Dash culture.

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

And is probably happening already in Venezuela in big or small scale. The question is if Dash should formalize it into less desperate settings. It's all about continue, on not, development structures in mankind and nature.

 

[DeepBlue]

Thanks to @AgnewPickens again for some great constructive feedback! This type of feedback helps me more clearly articulate and clarify what I'm suggesting.

I can see arguments for stable coins, but we already have 6 firmly planted in the top 100 on CMC, does it make sense to develop another when there are already existing options, wouldn't integrating an existing coin like DAI or USDT make more sense?

Correct, there are other stable coins however they will not do precisely what we need. e.g. they cannot integrate into the DASH wallet without considerable work. They are also outside of the DASH ecosystem which means that we have very little control over what features we can add and how it will integrate. There are times to use existing code and there are times not to use existing code. If someone else controls the code I would not use it. The reason is that there is always areas that need to be customized to fit exactly our needs. In DASH Core development I can think of the example of the Copay wallet. It was assumed that this wallet could be used as the basis of the Evolution wallet but the core team found that they could not do what they needed to do to make it work. This is an easy situation to find onself in as a developer. In my opinion it was actually a smart decision for the core team to attempt to use existing code (co-pay wallet) because that could have saved a lot of development time. One of the most important rules for rapid development is never build code that has already been build. However in this particular case the fundamentals of the co-pay wallet could not be adapted to meet the needs and it had to be dropped and that really only could be determined by attempting to use it. Sometimes it pays off to use existing code and other times it does not. Unfortunately it is very difficult to predict this type of issue and personally I would probably have made the same decisions as the core team did.

In order for us to be 100% sure the base core code can do what we need on the stable coin I would not use another stable coin however. I would design it from the ground up to be be 100% DASH compatible. If the foundations of the base source code do not give us all we need we could end up in the same position as with the copay wallet.

My opinion is we need a DASH exclusive custom designed stable coin that is tightly integrated with DASH transactional coin. In this way we can do whatever we need to meet the demands or future demands of our users. We cannot compromise. It must be our code and specifically designed to integrate into what we have currently got. It is more work but then we can be 100% certain the code will do what we need it to do.

adding a stable coin really does nothing to reduce friction,

I will define "friction" as anything that requires the users time, mental energy, research, understanding, inconvenience, lack of control, action or any other activity that is not instantaneous and completely self evident.

Therefore if we consider using another stable coin over using a custom built DASH stable coin these are the friction points I foresee with using an externally developed coin:

1. We have limited control over the features of an externally developed 3rd party coin. Which means we cannot request the coin be modified for our specific needs. As an example we cannot request that the 3rd party stable coin be made to work with instant pay and be fully integrated into our current DASH wallet.

2. Friction points for our users in attempting to use a 3rd Party stable coin:

1. Learning what a stable coin is
2. Learning and researching which stable coins to use.
3. Learning how to transfer DASH to this stable coin
4. Learning how to convert a stable coin back to fiat or to DASH
5. Is the stable coin reliable, can the user trust the stable coin?
6. KYC requirements to sign up with an exchange. This is a pain point for merchants.
7. Relying on a 3rd party exchange to do the exchange from DASH to a stable coin.
8. Fees associated with converting DASH to stable and possibly even Stable coin back to DASH.

If the DASH stable coin was integrated into the DASH wallet the user would simply have to move their DASH transaction to DASH stable in the DASH wallet. It would be done instantaneously, with no 3rd party involved. No KYC. No signing up to an exchange and no need to do all the research if a coin is reliable and how to use it they have the DASH brand behind it. It would be a simple action that required no training. They already know and trust the DASH brand. Users would not need to go through all the work to figure out if the 3rd party stable coin is trustworth or not. DASH transactional can be converted to DASH stable seemlessly without effort or training directly in the DASH wallet. And DASH stable can be converted instantly and seemlessly from the DASH wallet back to DASH transactional. That is what I mean by frictionless.

I would like to thank @AgnewPickens for your great feedback. If only all feedback was this constructive on these forums.

 

[AgnewPickens]

#1 friction point with creating a Dash stable coin as opposed to integrating an existing stable coin into a POS, major changes to core code, I don't see how you get around that part, adding an existing stable coin on the front end is much easier than making changes to our source code, and this is not the time to be throwing more stumbling blocks at Evolution.

 

[DeepBlue]

not the time to be throwing more stumbling blocks at Evolution.

I leave the merit of the suggestion to stand on its own as to whether it should be classed as a worthy idea or if it should be classed as a "stumbling block". I believe time will show my suggestion to be correct for the reasons I've stated previously in these messages. If a coin cannot offer stability inherently then it inherently is not the best option for commerce because that is what is needed for commerce. If we do not develop a DASH stable coin then we will always be dependent on an external coin which we cannot fully customise for our needs. It will always be a compromise. For a currency to be a true alternative to what we have my belief is we need a DASH stable coin. DASH branded. Dash owned. Dash developed.

I feel that inevitably DASH will have no option but to eventually come around to realising this is an essential feature. To use a 3rd party coin is a compromise as I've stated previously. If we want to be the best Digital currency the world can give I feel we must develop a custom solution.

As for your comment that my suggestion is interfering with DASH evolution, I don't see how that can happen. If my suggestion has no merit then it will be ignored. If it has merit then it will need to be developed over lesser important features. I cannot see how making a constructive suggestion as being classed as a stumbling block. If it is deemed a bad idea then the core team will simply ignore it.

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

To agnewPickens and DeepBlue:
A bank/financial institution
seems to be what develop, is + offer
Stable Dash coin.
But
Wouldn't gold & silver do the job ok in a Dash bank, later gold & silver could abruptly or, probably, gradually be presented as more stable. Why?
Because the Dash institution at that time should have enough backing and customer/user confidence to simply delete volatility in Stable Dash

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

To agnewPickens and DeepBlue:
A bank/financial institution
seems to be what develop, is + offer
Stable Dash coin.
But
Wouldn't gold & silver do the job ok in a Dash bank, later gold & silver could abruptly or, probably, gradually be presented as more stable. Why?
Because the Dash institution at that time should have enough backing and customer/user confidence to simply delete volatility in Stable Dash

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

wrongfully written above; correction:
",later Stable Dash Gold and Stable Dash Silver could be presented as doing similar jobs and be more stable than gold and silver."

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

wrongfully written above; correction:
",later Stable Dash Gold and Stable Dash Silver could be presented as doing similar jobs and be more stable than gold and silver."

Possibly Stable Dash could financially exchange for both gold & silver simultaneously. Realistic scenario will probably be all three to work together. Result: markets will as a whole stabilize, at least some time..

 

[DeepBlue]

#1 friction point with creating a Dash stable coin as opposed to integrating an existing stable coin into a POS, major changes to core code,

Absolutely agree. The friction is removed from the customer and passed to the dev team to develop a solution to remove it. That is how all successful organizations operate. They bear the friction for the customers - and then the customer flock to that organization. From my own business experience I know the way to attract more customers is to do the work for the customer. Hard graft work. There is no alternative to get the customers to move over. The organizations that do the most work for the customer and bear the friction for them are the organizations that will win the most customers.

 

[AgnewPickens]

A POS solution is a Third Party developer, not a customer, the integration does not have to come at the core level. Evolution will make it easier for Third Party developers to do so, making changes to the core code to institute a stable coin doesn't look like the right solution, this is something that should be addressed off chain.

 

[Gunnar Erik Gervin]

A POS solution is a Third Party developer, not a customer, the integration does not have to come at the core level. Evolution will make it easier for Third Party developers to do so, making changes to the core code to institute a stable coin doesn't look like the right solution, this is something that should be addressed off chain.

AndrewPickens: Agreed, though:
Not being coder, tiny understood I from your talk on development. But discussion of you & DeepBlue made me write a suggested solution. How it's coded &/or 3d party developed is up to Dash adm, experts & -insiders to decide to do or not to do. Here it's:
1. Create Dash Silver & Dash Gold, each 2 accurately follow silver versus gold fluctuations in the global market. (Challenge will be which value counts fluctuations. Currently most stable fiat's probably Euro or Swiss Franc, the most used is probably US dollar. I'd prefer the most stable cryptocoin if not the market's confident knowledge wasn't as important as it de facto is.)
2. Using these 2 "connective feelers" on/in global markets may function as directive "landing lights" elements; to enable+create Dash Stable stabilize into total state of self sufficient stable integrity, indifferent or neutral to market fluctuations, investments, manipulations, needs, of real &/or pretentious interest/s and value/s.
3. Quality secured Dash Stable:
Necessary or not? For ex.: accepted fluctuance of 0,000000001 a decade. Eventually these 3 Dash's should or will free more & more gold & silver to nano-electric & similar current+future needs of the productive world.

 

[AgnewPickens]

Silver and gold cryptos already exist, again the argument is the same, a 3rd party developer can take Evolution and add the options for end users, touching the core code is a bad idea, imo, there will be plenty of options on the 3rd party side once Evolution is realized, modifying the core code is not the best solution, again, my opinion, the reality of coding a stable coin or precious metal derivative is vastly different than what the core code of Dash is doing with its Pow/PoSe & Treasury system, I can't imagine the coding difficulty this would introduce. Let's get Evolution out the door and see what 3rd Party developers can do with the second layer?

 

[DeepBlue]

A POS solution is a Third Party developer, not a customer, the integration does not have to come at the core level.

I would like to clarify when I referred to the phrase "customer of DASH" what I mean is anyone that wishes to use DASH which could be savers, users, merchants, traders or whoever - collectively I am referring to them as "customers" of DASH. We could call them "users" if you wish. I am stating that we need to take the friction out for these people and we need to bear the friction, and not them. This is what truly successful organizations do, they take the friction away for the users and they bear the friction in developing the solution.

Please note I am not suggesting to integrating any kind of POS system at the protocol level. I am referring to developing a twin DASH stable coin that can be built into the current DASH wallet to allow seamless and frictionless transfer from our current DASH transactional coin which is suffering from significant price fluctuations, to the new DASH stable coin. This is to give users security that they can lock in their earnings whenever needed.

It needs to be integrated at the protocol level and not as a third party plugin because we then have complete control over the code base and what features it has. The tight integration will also enable us to ensure security and the features we need that will be specific for the DASH network.

If DASH is to be used in commerce we need seamless and frictionless stability. Yes there are possible other solutions but they are not frictionless as I've described above which means many people are unlikely to use them. If however the DASH stable coin is built into the wallet and it just means typing a figure in and pressing "OK" to lock in our DASH holdings to a coin that will hold its value this is what people and commerce need in order to feel confident using a crypto. We cannot wait until DASH has sufficient mass volume to become stable. However with this feature request for a DASH stable coin this could be done relatively quickly.

I'm not asking the core team to take their focus of Evolution. However in development it is a good idea to predict where the market is going and start implementing code changes as early as possible that will accommodate for the future features if it is deemed a worthy feature.