Ethos, which aims to be a universal wallet for cryptocurrency users, has announced that they are integrating Dash into their wallet platform and are 95% complete and are currently undergoing beta testing.
Ethos aims to make their wallet have one Ethos smartkey for all their coins, a multicoin hot and cold wallet, and a built in method to research data on other coins. The Ethos wallet also claims that users can register and get verified to have a “simple branded wallet domain that can send or receive any coin supported in the cryptocurrency wallet” rather than the traditional cryptographic address.
In the announcement of the Dash integration, Ethos highlighted the vigorous testing that new coins go through before being integrated. The items of the check “include[s], but [is] not limited to: complexity of integration, market cap, quality of the token, liquidity of the network, community demand and size of the community”. The Dash integration is in addition to Ethos’ recent partnership with simplex and ShapeShift, the former will allow users to easily exchange between fiat and cryptocurrencies and the latter will allow users to easily move between different types of cryptocurrencies.
Making cryptocurrency easier to use
Cryptocurrency as a whole is striving to gain more adoption, but in order to do so it has to find ways to become appealing to average consumers that are not technologically savvy. Cryptocurrency provides many solutions for individuals suffering from inflation or poor banking access, but not all of these individuals are able to search out information and research different cryptocurrencies to discover what provides solutions to their problems. Thus, the learning curve of cryptocurrencies establishes a barrier to entry for many of the people it is trying to help. However, friendly user interfaces, user experiences, and help services eliminate this learning curve and barrier to entry.
Ethos’ attempt to make an all-inclusive wallet is a step towards cryptocurrencies’ original goal of helping everyday individuals through making the use of independent, decentralized, digital, peer-to-peer money easier and more user friendly. Ethos is not the first to attempt this as Coinbase is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, party due to its user friendliness and a simple interface. Square Cash, a user friendly payments app, has also gotten into the game by allowing users to buy and sell Bitcoin. However, neither platform allows the user to control any private keys, which might aid usability, but significantly limits individual control and security. Nevertheless, these developments demonstrate that the industry is starting to recognize the importance of making cryptocurrencies easier to use for the average consumer.
Dash strives for a friendly user experience
Dash has long been focusing on being a payments method for everyday transactions by everyday individuals. Dash is making this happen through multiple channels. First, Dash provides record low transaction cost that sets Dash ahead of its cryptocurrency peers, as well as makes it competitive with traditional payment methods. Second, Dash is able to fund community outreach groups to promote Dash and provide support to individuals that have questions about general features of Dash, how to use Dash, troubleshooting questions, and more. Third, the Dash community is striving to make Dash have an extremely easy and intuitive UX/UI so consumers have very little switching cost from the old financial system.
In the coming rollout of Evolution, Dash plans to have an even more intuitive user experience and interface by making consumer friendly features like usernames replacing cryptographic addresses, which can be confusing and hard to use for many consumers. The Dash community is also working towards making Dash easier to use for developers though its DAPI, which will allow developers to work more efficiently and thus deliver a better product for end users at a faster speed and cheaper rate. In addition, the Dash Nexus team is working to make the Dash governance model a more enjoyable, efficient, and seamless experience, which stands to improve the operations of Dash, and thus, also improve the final product rolled out for end consumers. All of these projects shows that Dash is working towards making a better product and service for consumers just as other companies are doing the same, which might explain why they are integrating Dash into their systems. The advantage that Dash has is that Dash is able to fund its own development through its DAO Treasury, which allows Dash to prioritize the best interests of the network and consumers.
