Dash version 12.3 became available on July 3rd and included development improvements for PrivateSend, InstantSend, the overall Dash network, and laid additional foundations for Dash Evolution.

The upgrade was released earlier in June for testing by the community, but was officially released to everyone on July 3rd after the most recent superblock. All masternode operators, exchanges, pools and explorers need to update to version 12.3, along with a restart by masternodes, in order to continue receiving rewards. The upgrade will include the “new devnets feature to enable the creation of multiple independent devnets” as well as “lower the number of inputs designated to each wallet, improve user privacy by eliminating the merging together of small non-private inputs, and decrease UTXO set size”. The upgrade will also introduce “new signature format for Dash-specific network messages”, among other updates that will enhance the performance of Dash.

At the time of writing, according to Dash Ninja, more than 14.8% of Dash Masternodes have already updated to the 12.3 version. Also at the time of writing, there are currently 4788 masternodes, of which 4450 are active.

Dash is taking steps towards a new monetary system

The upgrade is another step on the path to Evolution that will give consumers a currency that is independent of centralized authorities without sacrificing too much of the conveniences that come with traditional banking. The multiple independent devnets improvement is major in that, previously, there was only one devnet so all testing was reliant on the continuous operation of a single testnet. Since testing is experimental and meant to discover and fix buggy code, problems are bound to happen that could risk shutting down the testnet for a period of time, which stalls development. Multiple independent testnets encourages more entrepreneurial code development, minimize risks to the network, and prevents future slowdowns in development and testing.

The other improvements noted in the github release notes page offer performance and privacy improvements for masternode operators and users through updating PrivateSend.

“PrivateSend collaterals are no longer required to be N times of the PrivateSend fee (PSF), instead any input which is greater or equal 1 PSF but less or equal 4 PSF can be used as a collateral. Inputs that are greater or equal 1 PSF but strictly less than 2 PSF will be used in collaterals with OP_RETURN outputs. Note that such inputs will be consumed completely, with no change outputs at all. This should lower number of inputs wallet would need to take care of, improve privacy by eliminating the case where user accidentally merge small non-private inputs together and also decrease global UTXO set size.”

The upgrade also features a good amount of general code streamlining to enhance the overall performance of the Dash network.

“A lot of refactoring, code cleanups and other small fixes were done in this release again. We are going to continue making code more reliable and easier to review in future releases as well.”

The performance enhancements are key for Evolution as it will be introducing more features such as contact lists, user profiles, messages, notification history, decentralized applications (dApps), and more. Thus, the network will need to be as efficient as possible to not only handle the improved features, but also handle the influx of new users that Evolution is expected to attract.

Dash is continuously innovating

Dash already improves upon the radically innovative technology of blockchain by adding a masternode and treasury system to create a Decentralize Autonomous Organization (DAO). The DAO also enables Dash to continuously innovate upon itself since it is able to professionally pay developers without relying on third parties. This also allows Dash to achieve consensus much easier and avoid forks since the network is effectively funded by the blockchain and the community, and thus, decisions are made in the best interests of the Dash community.
The unique structure of Dash has allowed it to innovate and develop with the end consumer in mind because user adoption is key to the growth of cryptocurrencies. Since consumers are inclined to use products that are best able to communicate how it will solve the most amount of their problems for the least amount of costs, Dash will stand out when compared to other cryptocurrencies. Dash is already able to communicate and offer many solutions to consumers with its consistently low transaction fees, fast confirmation times, security, and large merchant adoption. Further, Dash is well positioned for the future with its roadmap on how it will continue to innovate even more to consistently offer consumers more solutions.