Decred (DCR) The “autonomous digital currency” recently started to garner a lot of attention due to its notable appearances at industry events. And while some might chalk that up to being typical hype that’s often followed by the disappearance act, I’d argue it’s only the beginning.
Decred is, in my opinion, a hidden gem waiting to be discovered by the masses.
1. First-Class Development Team
The lead selling point of every crypto project is, unsurprisingly, their “rockstar” team. A complete package of Ivy League educations, well-known advisors, celebrity marketers, and big-name partnerships.
2. On-chain Governance
Was it Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash? How about Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin Diamond — those sound flashy!
Assuming it can even identify itself anymore, will the real Bitcoin please stand up?
Unfortunately this is becoming a common occurrence. These chain-splitting “hard forks” are a result of infighting over issues such as security, scalability, and new functionality. When entities can’t agree on what to implement, or how to proceed, they simply decide to part ways.
Decred, on the other hand, is fork-resistant. Instead of leaving the decisions up to a handful of developers and miners, features are voted on by the users who are holding and staking the coin. And staking is done directly (no masternodes or Delegated Proof of Stake) in order to promote decentralization.
This gives Decred an agile, cooperative advantage, allowing decisions to be made in a fluid manner while avoiding hard forks and apprehension.
3. Security
Decred’s hybrid PoW/PoS protocol is based on the MC2 whitepaper written by Adam Mackenzie (a former Monero developer), with some techniques also taken from the PoA whitepaper co-authored by Charlie Lee (founder of Litecoin).
By taking a hybrid approach, Decred is able to exploit strengths, and either minimize or eliminate vulnerabilities that are tied to PoW and PoS (when those protocols are used exclusively).
4. Treasury
In Decred’s hybrid model, 60% of each block reward goes to the miners, 30% goes to the voters, and 10% goes to the project treasury.
In other words, Decred is self-funded.
Once Politeia goes live later this year, stakeholders will be in complete control of the funds. As it stands today, over 500,000 Decred (worth over $35 million) is available in the treasury. Want to:
- hire an army of developers to expedite the roadmap?
- run a Super Bowl ad?
- pay for a Binance listing?
- fund a decentralized exchange?
5. Staking
As mentioned above, 30% of every block reward goes to stakeholders — those who hold Decred and participate in voting.
Staked Decred is locked for an average of 28 days, guaranteeing that voters cannot amass tickets in order to manipulate a decision (without exposing themselves to the ramifications of that decision).
The most obvious benefit of staking Decred is that, currently, PoS rewards deliver an annual ROI of approximately 20%. That allows investors to buy-in on the long-term vision, avoid the risks and stress of day trading, and earn more Decred… all while being encouraged to participate in the ecosystem.
6. Distribution
Great startups and serial entrepreneurs are known for putting in long hours and working incredibly hard to ensure that their ideas are realized. For most, there’s plenty of motivation to keep them going: the journey, their passion, and a whole lot of money.
But what happens when these startups are given millions (billions, even) before they even begin to write a single line of code?
7. Adoption, Traction & Roadmap
After the fundamentals are solidified, a cryptocurrency needs traction, community, adoption, and a productive roadmap that’ll guarantee maximum visibility.
Decred’s adoption:
- listed on over a dozen high-volume exchanges with a variety of trading pairs including USDT
- supported on the Trezor hardware wallet, with Ledger and Edge support in the works
- built a large community of users who believe in the tech, with little advertising to date
- gradually ramping up brand-building (stole the show at Consensus 2018)
Decred’s roadmap:
- privacy
- Lightning Network support
- Politiea
- ticket-splitting
- SPV wallet support
- decentralized control of funds
- decentralized autonomous entities
- scalability optimizations
Additionally, PoW hash rate is skyrocketing — a good indicator of what sentiment looks like.
Disclaimer: I’m personally invested in Decred. This article is an opinion and is for information purposes only. Cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments that can go to 0 at any moment. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice. This is a summary of different articles collected from many places.
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