March 22, 2024 10:28 pm

Decentralized governance matters!

The recent court case of COPA vs. Craig Wright brings up a very important issue:

Decentralized governance matters!

Let’s start with a little recap of Dash’s history to illustrate this point.

Dash was founded in 2014 by Evan Duffield. He largely served as the project’s figurehead until 2017. In 2015 the DAO (Dash is now the world’s oldest) was conceived, letting any holder of 1,000 units of Dash vote on the direction of the project, as well as on funding.

When Evan moved on to other pursuits in 2017, Ryan Taylor took over leadership of the Core team (later formalized as Dash Core Group). While this was only one of many entities under the DAO, it took charge of the majority of protocol development, business development, and some marketing.

In early 2022, Ryan resigned as DCG CEO to pursue other endeavors. Patrick Quinn served as interim CEO temporarily, but at present, there is no filled CEO position at DCG.

However, Dash continues on unabated!

There is no central figure or entity in control of, or with overwhelming influence over, the Dash network. It’s truly a decentralized ecosystem, governed by thousands of masternodes (many of which are made up by several smaller holders).

Some of the major independent entities in the Dash ecosystem today are:

-Dash Core Group (protocol development and product)
-Dash Investment Foundation (ecosystem-aligned investment and equity)
-Dash Incubator (community bounty-based development)
-Dash Growth (business development and marketing, and makes most of the posts on this account)

And there are many others as well!

Because of the DAO, Dash can remain completely decentralized while still coming together and acting as one. This blends the best of both worlds, and prevents rifts from splitting the community.

With centralized projects, the figurehead or leader has a massive influence over its direction. If something happens to them, such as the result of COPA vs. Wright, it can dramatically affect the future of the project.

Dash, the oldest DAO, is truly decentralized, and still innovating, 10 years in.


About the author


Joël Valenzuela

Joël Valenzuela works in business development and marketing for Dash. A cryptocurrency user and advocate since 2013, he has been living entirely on crypto since 2015. He is a mover for the Free State Project and creates content for Digital Cash Network.