Dash Trading: Is an Improved Governance Model Enough Reason to Trade It?

Risk Warning: Your Capital is at Risk.

In this guide to trading Dash (DASH), we’ll explain how and where to buy this altcoin. We also list regulated brokers and cryptocurrency exchanges that allow you to buy Dash coins outright or speculate on its price.

In a hurry? If you want to get started trading Dash and other cryptos, here are platforms available in to consider:

Disclaimer: Availability subject to regulations.
Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.

How Can I Buy or Trade Dash?

Buying or trading Dash (Symbol: DASH) isn’t as simple as acquiring Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (Ł), or Ethereum (ETH).

Dash typically must be traded for other cryptocurrencies. The easiest way to do this is to trade BTC for DASH on an exchange.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges

One way to acquire Dash (or Bitcoin) is to use an exchange like Coinbase. This involves buying coins with fiat currency and storing your digital currency in a virtual wallet. Here are other popular exchanges:

Risks of Crypto Exchanges

Managing cryptocurrencies can be a challenge. You could misplace your access codes and leave your digital currency forever trapped in a wallet you cannot access. If you use a wallet on your smartphone, if your phone were stolen then your cryptocurrencies could be gone as well.

Here is more detail on Coinbase and Localbitcoins; two popular exchanges that can help you purchase Dash.

Coinbase – When you’re considering how to trade Dash the first step is to buy Bitcoin. One of the better exchanges is Coinbase. They are one of the oldest and most well-established cryptocurrency exchanges. They offer an exchange, a wallet, and a user-friendly interface.

You can purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin using either bank transfer or credit/debit card. Their fees for this are also fairly low.

Privacy diehards may balk at using Coinbase. Like many other more reputable exchanges Coinbase uses ID verification. This is to ensure that the exchange isn’t used for illegal activities and to comply with KYC (know your customer) regulations, considered a best practice by many exchanges.

LocalBitcoins – If you prefer not to give your ID to an exchange you may want to look at Localbitcoins. They are a Peer-to-Peer exchange that does not require ID verification.

Keep in mind that not every user on these kinds of services is honest. Always make sure to read reviews before you trade to avoid being scammed out of your bitcoins.

Cryptocurrency Derivative Brokers

Rather than buying your Dash directly through an exchange, you can speculate on the price of this altcoin through a regulated broker without actually purchasing Dash as an asset using Options, CFDs and other derivatives.

Dash Contracts For Difference (CFDs)

A CFD is a contract between you, a buyer, and a broker. You pick an instrument, in this example Dash, and take a short or buy position.

• If the market moves in the direction you predicted, the broker agrees to pay you the difference.
• If the contract moves against your position then you will end up paying the broker instead.

CFDs allow you to trade on the price of Dash without ever owning a single coin.

Regulated Crypto Brokers

The first rule when deciding how to trade Dash is to always use a regulated broker. They must abide by strict codes of conduct are thus safer than an unregulated broker.

You should also compare the different fee structures and look at what extras a broker offers. Many brokers also offer demos and it is a good idea to take advantage of them before you settle on a platform.

Start your research with reviews of these regulated crypto brokers available in .

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74%-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Please Note: Availability subject to regulations. Cryptocurrency CFDs are not available to UK retail traders.

Reasons You Might Trade Dash

There are plenty of reasons to consider trading Dash, including innovative technical solutions and an improved governance model.

Important: This is not investment advice. We present a number of common arguments for and against investing in this commodity. Please seek professional advice before making investment decisions.

Innovative Technical Features

Developed years after Bitcoin, Dash had the benefit of hindsight. The developers concentrated on Bitcoin’s weaknesses and have come up with innovative technical solutions like InstantSend and PrivateSend adding speed and privacy to transactions.

Instead of relying on volunteers to develop and maintain the network, they have provided incentives at the protocol level – namely 15% of each block reward going to a development and promotion fund – earning a reputation as a “self-funding” protocol.

Improved Governance Model

Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that need almost an absolute consensus for improvements and upgrades, Dash has incentivized Masternodes.

Their operators have had to stake some money into the network to run a Masternode, and so can be considered as the network’s guardians in the sense that they would always act in the network’s interest.

Each Masternode gets 1 vote toward protocol governance issues.

Added Utility and Growing User Base

Dash’s extra features, particularly instant and private transactions, are proving quite useful to Dash’s vibrant and growing community of users.

Many say Dash has some of the most ardent and vocal adherents – which is probably due to their development fund being used to perpetually evangelize the coin. This virtually guarantees that it is unlikely to die off or become obscure.

Potential Risks of Trading Dash

As always, it’s wise to consider the inherent risks before buying any cryptocurrency, including Dash.

Important: This is not investment advice. We present a number of common arguments for and against investing in this commodity. Please seek professional advice before making investment decisions.

Stiff Competition

Dash set out to be an improvement on Bitcoin, and even innovative features that at the time were unique – but it now has to share that mantle with an ever-increasing amount of coins that have similar features.

Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash also provide near-instant transactions and Monero and Zcash lead the pack of a slew of “privacy” coins.

Second-Tier Development Issues

Although the protocol has achieved self-funding for development and marketing purposes, third-parties service providers seem to be slow to the table.

Dash has been slow to see any merchant adoption, and unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, third-party software developers are mainly absent – meaning that the core protocol developers also need to build out the second-tier infrastructure themselves such as wallets and storage security software.

Further Reading

• Learn the History of Dash and What Drives Its Prices
• Getting Started With Cryptocurrencies
• Crypto Broker and Exchange Guide
• Learn to Trade Commodities