Layer 1 blockchain
Dash ticker DASH
Summary
Miners search for a block header whose X11 hash (eleven hash functions chained together) is below the target. Blocks target 2.5 minutes and difficulty is recalculated every block from the previous 24 blocks (Dark Gravity Wave). A second tier of masternodes, each backed by 1,000 DASH of collateral (4,000 DASH for evonodes), forms long-living quorums that threshold-sign InstantSend locks on transaction inputs and ChainLocks, which fix the first valid block seen at each height. Main-chain value is held as unspent outputs guarded by Script inherited from Bitcoin Core. Dash Platform (Evolution) is a separate evonode chain that reads from the main chain; the main chain does not depend on it. 138911121317
Design
- System
- Layer 1 blockchainPermissionless proof-of-work base chain whose node software descends from Bitcoin Core. A collateralized masternode tier signs block locks and instant transaction locks inside the same chain's consensus. Dash Platform (Evolution) is a separate evonode-run BFT chain that reads from this chain; Dash's docs call it layer 2, but it is recorded here as a bridged chain with its own consensus, not a rollup.
- Settlement family
- Bitcoin family
- Scarce resource
- Work (proof of work)
- State model
- UTXO
- Finality
- Checkpointed
- Who makes blocks
- Miners propose main-chain blocks by proof of work; Dash's docs say X11 ASIC hardware makes up a significant share of the hashing power. Masternodes do not propose main-chain blocks. Long-living masternode quorums, re-formed from the masternode list over time, sign ChainLocks (a 400-member quorum with a 60% threshold) and InstantSend locks (60-member rotating quorums with a 75% threshold). On Dash Platform, evonode quorums propose and commit blocks with Tenderdash.
- Fork choice
- Nodes follow the valid chain with the most accumulated work until a ChainLock signature arrives; after that they reject any other block at that height and its descendants, even if that branch has more work. Blocks containing a transaction that conflicts with an InstantSend lock are rejected unless that block or a block built on it is ChainLocked, in which case the ChainLock wins. If quorums cannot sign, for example during a severe network split, nodes fall back to the most-work and first-seen rules.
Qualifications
- Finality · Contested. Dash describes ChainLocked blocks as protected from reorganization. That holds only if the signing quorum is honest and nodes have received the lock; until a lock arrives, and whenever quorums cannot sign, settlement falls back to probabilistic proof-of-work confirmations.
- Masternode collateral · Applies. Security rests on two resources: X11 mining for block production and masternode collateral for quorum signing, governance votes and Platform validation. Each masternode also has to pass Proof of Service checks or be banned from payments.
- Merged mining · Not applicable. Dash Core's block header and chain parameters contain no auxiliary proof-of-work support; Dash does not accept merged-mined work from another chain in its own consensus code.
- Privacy · Partial. CoinJoin on the main chain is optional, non-custodial mixing in fixed denominations coordinated by masternodes; amounts and addresses stay public. Since 2026 an Orchard-based shielded pool on Dash Platform hides amounts and parties for transfers inside the pool, but only for Platform credits, not main-chain DASH outputs, and amounts moving into or out of the pool stay visible.
Tradeoffs
- Emphasizes
- Security and Scalability Contested
- Gives up
- Some decentralization of settlement: once a ChainLock or InstantSend lock forms, the final say moves from open mining to a collateral-gated masternode set. Joining that set needs 1,000 DASH (4,000 DASH for Platform evonodes) plus an always-on public server, so ordinary users can check the signatures but cannot take part in signing.Whether ChainLocks add security or relocate trust is disputed. They stop a hashing-power majority from rewriting locked blocks, but they add the assumption that at least 60% of a selected masternode quorum signs honestly. Quorum seats come from the masternode list, and each masternode needs its own collateral, so whoever holds more DASH can run more masternodes and win more seats (an inference from the collateral rule, not a measured distribution). Mining-pool and masternode-ownership concentration were not measured here.
- Full node at home
- Practical at home 113No official hardware guide for a plain full node was found. Dash Core's built-in chain-size hint is 57 GB, and Dash's minimum for a regular masternode, which runs the same node software plus quorum duties, is 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM plus 2 GB swap, 60 GB disk and 750 GB of traffic a month. A home node can verify ChainLock and InstantSend signatures but cannot join quorums without collateral and a public server.
- Throughput claims
- Theoretical peak: 56 tx/s 211Theoretical peak; not comparable across chains or with observed load.Stated as a network property, with no measurement window.Dash's user documentation pairs 2 MB blocks with about 56 transactions per second; the transaction size behind the figure is not stated. It is a capacity figure derived from block size, not observed usage. It ignores block propagation, state growth, CoinJoin and special-transaction sizes, and whether home nodes keep up with sustained full blocks. The docs also mention a long-term roadmap toward much larger blocks; the consensus limit in Dash Core today is 2 MB.
Scaling layers
- Dash Platform (Evolution) · Sidechain, mainnet 1718202125
A separate chain run only by evonodes using Tenderdash BFT: a block is final once more than two-thirds of the active validator quorum commit it, with a target spacing of about 5 seconds. DASH enters by locking it in a main-chain asset-lock transaction and becomes Platform credits; withdrawals back need Platform quorum signatures and are capped per withdrawal, per block and per day. Main-chain miners do not validate Platform state. Dash calls it layer 2, but it is not a rollup or a channel.
Capabilities
| Capability | How it is provided | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Account abstraction | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Atomic swaps | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; Dash Script has hash checks plus absolute and relative timelocks (active since heights 619,382 and 622,944 per Dash Core's chain parameters), building blocks with which hash-time-locked swaps can be built. No maintained Dash atomic swap tool was reviewed, so none is shown live; the DASH swaps offered in the DashPay wallet use Maya Protocol pools, not on-chain hash locks. 15 |
| Authenticated data publication | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; Dash Platform stores application data as documents under registered data contracts, and clients can verify query answers with Merkle proofs tied to a quorum signature. That is paid storage in the state of a separate chain (priced per byte in credits), and data held only in chain state does not count; no other way to publish data against a chain-recorded commitment was reviewed. 192224 |
| Light clients | Built into the protocolFull scope | Protocol: consensus produces the proof-of-work header chain plus quorum-signed ChainLocks and InstantSend locks, and DIP-0004 lets light clients check the masternode list they need to verify those signatures. Light wallets can use bloom filters or compact block filters; Dash Core 23.0 added Dash special transactions, including masternode registrations and asset locks, to the filter index. Dash Platform answers carry proofs. 6722 |
| Native staking or delegation | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| On-chain governance | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Parallel execution | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Payment or state channels | None found Earlier definition | Dash's developer guide describes a textbook one-way micropayment channel, but no deployed Dash channel network or maintained channel software was found. Dash relies on InstantSend for fast payments instead. 14 |
| Programmable spending | Native (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definition | Main-chain outputs carry Script inherited from Bitcoin Core, extended by DIP-0020 opcodes such as OP_CAT and OP_CHECKDATASIG (active since height 1,516,032). No SegWit or Taproot deployment appears in Dash Core's chain parameters. Dash Platform adds data contracts and configurable tokens, but no general-purpose smart-contract virtual machine. 11023 |
| Protocol-verified messaging | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Reversible transfers or recovery | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; timelocks are building blocks with which wallets can build delayed or revocable spend paths, but no cited source shows a sender-reclaim window or recovery path live, and a confirmed DASH payment cannot be reversed by its sender. Separately, Dash Platform tokens can be configured so the issuer can freeze an identity's balance and destroy frozen tokens; that is issuer control over a token, not recovery for DASH holders. 123 |
| Rollups | Unknown | The earlier search for a rollup settling to Dash found none but was not exhaustive, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown. Dash Platform has its own validator consensus and is not a rollup. 17 |
| Shielded transfers | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Signed partial offers | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
Reading these values
- How this feature is provided
- Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
- Structured assessment pending
- The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
- Unknown
- The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
- Earlier definition
- Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
- Reading across rows
- The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.
Ecosystem & custody
| Product type | Status | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Automated market makers | Unknown | The earlier note said absence was not verified, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown. Earlier finding: no AMM runs on the Dash main chain, which has no contract accounts, and Dash Platform tokens offer fixed-price direct purchase rather than pooled market making. Native DASH has a pool on Maya Protocol, a separate chain, whose node API reported a network-wide chain halt at review time. 232830 |
| Issuer-native stablecoins | Unknown | Neither Tether's supported-protocols page nor Circle's USDC address list includes Dash. Dash Platform supports issuer-controlled tokens with freeze functions aimed partly at stablecoins; a community explorer listed five Platform tokens on mainnet at review, one named DUSD that describes itself as a stablecoin, but its issuer and backing could not be verified. 23323337 |
| Algorithmic stablecoins | Unknown | No source was cited for absence, so the rule that absence needs a source makes this unknown. Earlier finding: no algorithmic stablecoin with material usage on Dash was identified; absence was not exhaustively verified. |
| Bridges | First-partyDash main chain to Dash Platform credit transfers, Maya Protocol | Asset-lock transactions move DASH from the main chain into Dash Platform credits (1 duff becomes 1,000 credits), and Platform withdrawals return DASH to the main chain. Outside Dash, dash.org announced Maya Protocol swaps inside the DashPay wallet in June 2026, and Maya's node API lists a Dash deposit vault address. Risk: Platform withdrawals depend on evonode quorum signatures and are rate-limited (500 DASH per withdrawal, four per block and a network-wide daily cap the docs give as 2,000 DASH), so large exits can queue. Maya holds deposits in threshold-signature vaults run by its bonded node operators, not by Dash consensus; at review time its node API showed a network-wide chain halt with Dash deposits halted, and the last Dash block it had observed was 2,524,022, more than 21,000 blocks behind the Dash tip that Insight reported. 2021262729303135 |
| Block explorers | Established in the ecosystemInsight (insight.dash.org), Platform Explorer, Chainz (CryptoID), Blockchair | Dash's docs list about nine main-chain explorers and a separate Dash Platform explorer. Insight's public API reported Dash Core 22.0 at review, older than the current 23.x line. A public explorer's view is provider data, not independent validation. 15343536 |
| Hardware wallets | Established in the ecosystemLedger, Trezor (deprecated for Dash), KeepKey | See the custody section: Ledger lists Dash in Ledger Wallet; Trezor marks Dash as deprecated and removed it from Trezor Suite in February 2025. KeepKey's own coin-support page also lists Dash; which KeepKey app handles it was not checked. 16383940 |
Hardware-wallet custody
| Device maker | Status | What users can and cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | Native supportSame as native: Yes | Can: Set up a Dash account in the Ledger Wallet app and confirm each transaction on the device Can: Buy or swap DASH inside Ledger Wallet through third-party providersLedger's Dash page describes Dash's mixing feature under its older name, PrivateSend, and mentions masternodes, but it does not say Ledger Wallet can run CoinJoin mixing or hold Dash Platform credits; those uses were not verified. Dash's docs say a masternode can be operated with a Ledger. 38 |
| Trezor | Through an intermediaryThird-party wallet apps: Exodus (named by Trezor); Dash Electrum or Dash Masternode Tool (named by Dash's docs)Same as native: No | Can: Sign Dash transactions on a supported Trezor device through a third-party wallet app such as Exodus Cannot: Manage Dash in Trezor Suite, which dropped Dash in February 2025 Cannot: Use Dash on Trezor Safe 3 or Safe 5, according to Dash's documentationTrezor's page says Dash will be deprecated soon; its page data lists two supported devices without naming them, while its FAQ text still mentions Safe 3 and Safe 5. Dash's docs say only the Model One and Model T support Dash, which conflicts with that FAQ text. 1639 |
Public data
iKnow Blockchain has no public-data lookups for Dash yet. This is a limit of the service, not a statement about the network.
| Lookup | Status | What it covers and its limits |
|---|---|---|
| Address or account | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Tokens and assets | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| NFTs | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Transactions | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
Sourced developments
Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 27, 2026; next review was due Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Publication date · newest first
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Shielded transfers announced live on Dash Platform mainnet
dash.org announced that shielded transfers are live on the Dash Platform (Evolution) mainnet. Dash Platform 4.0, released on 1 July 2026, introduced an Orchard-based shielded pool for Platform credits under protocol version 12, with private transfers, shielding from a main-chain asset lock and shielded withdrawals back to the main chain.
- Implementation:shipped in Dash Platform 4.0.0
- Release:v4.0.0 published 2026-07-01; v4.1.0 (protocol version 13) followed on 2026-07-27
- Activation:announced live on mainnet 2026-08-04; exact activation height not verified
Sources: Dash (dash.org) — Shielded transactions are live on the Dash Evolution mainnet (external site) · Dash Platform developers (dashpay) — Dash Platform v4.0.0 release notes (external site) · Dash Platform developers (dashpay) — Dash Platform v4.1.0 release notes (external site) · Dash documentation — Dash Platform docs: Shielded Pool (external site)
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Dash Core 23.1.8 fixes three remotely triggerable node crashes
Dash Core 23.1.8, the latest stable 23.1 patch at review, fixed three crashes a remote peer could trigger: one while removing masternode provider transactions after an operator-key change, one from an unchecked quorum type in signature-share messages and one from quorum commitments that reference a block with no known parent. It also added limits and checks across many peer message handlers, including quorum signing, ChainLock, governance, CoinJoin, spork and bloom-filter messages. The developers said consensus rules and funds are not affected.
- Implementation:shipped in Dash Core 23.1.8
- Release:stable patch release published 2026-08-03; latest stable Dash Core release at review
- Activation:no consensus change; takes effect on each node as it upgrades
Sources: Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core 23.1.8 release announcement (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core v23.1.8 release notes (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core releases (Atom feed) (external site)
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Dash Core 23.1.7 hardens nodes against denial-of-service from peers
Dash Core 23.1.7 is a patch release focused on how nodes handle traffic from other peers. It stopped a network thread from running at full CPU when receive buffers back up, limited quorum key-generation messages to verified masternodes and checked their size and structure, fixed a null-pointer crash in BLS share verification, rejected oversized InstantSend input sets early and validated governance vote-sync requests. It also fixed builds on newer compilers. The developers said the issues do not affect consensus or put funds at risk.
- Implementation:shipped in Dash Core 23.1.7
- Release:stable patch release published 2026-07-01; superseded by 23.1.8 on 2026-08-03
- Activation:no consensus change; takes effect on each node as it upgrades
Sources: Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core 23.1.7 release announcement (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core v23.1.7 release notes (external site)
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Dash Core 23.1.5 corrects a wrong mainnet checkpoint shipped in 23.1.4
Dash Core 23.1.5 came out one day after 23.1.4 to fix a single mistake: the built-in mainnet checkpoint for block 2,487,500. A checkpoint is a block hash written into the node software that the node expects to find at a given height. According to the fix, 23.1.4 had stored the chain's minimum-work figure in that slot instead of the block's hash. The release notes list no other functional change and describe the upgrade as optional for all nodes, although recommended.
- Implementation:fix merged 2026-06-19 (dash#7368) and shipped in Dash Core 23.1.5
- Release:stable patch release published 2026-06-20; later superseded by 23.1.7 and 23.1.8
- Activation:no network activation; takes effect on each node as it upgrades
Sources: Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core v23.1.5 release (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core v23.1.5 release notes (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — fix: correct v23.1.4 checkpoint hash (dash#7368) (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core releases (Atom feed) (external site)
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DashPay wallet added cross-chain swaps through Maya Protocol
dash.org announced that the DashPay wallet can swap DASH to other assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins through Maya Protocol, a THORChain fork; Dash says DASH was the first new chain Maya added after its 2023 launch. iOS support was stated as coming. At review, Maya's node API still listed a DASH pool but reported a network-wide chain halt.
- Implementation:integrated in the DashPay Android wallet
- Release:announced live on Android; iOS stated as coming
- Activation:Maya network halted at review; cause not verified
Sources: Dash (dash.org) — DashPay Maya Swaps Now Live (external site) · Maya Protocol — MAYAChain node API: pools (external site) · Maya Protocol — MAYAChain node API: mimir settings (external site)
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Dash Core 23.1.0 speeds up InstantSend processing and adds experimental hardware signing
Dash Core 23.1.0 changed how nodes prioritise and relay quorum messages and process signature shares to speed up InstantSend, added a dust-attack protection option, declared descriptor wallets no longer experimental and added experimental support for handing signing to an external hardware device. It had no breaking changes but was required for masternodes.
- Implementation:shipped in Dash Core 23.1.0
- Release:stable release published 2026-02-14; later 23.1.x patch releases followed
- Activation:no consensus change; took effect as nodes upgraded
Sources: Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core 23.1.0 release announcement (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core v23.1.0 release notes (external site)
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Dash Core 23.0.0 released, rebuilding compact filters for light wallets
Dash Core 23.0.0, the first 23.x release, migrated masternode data to a new internal format, rebuilt the compact block filter index to include Dash special transactions such as masternode registrations and asset locks, randomized wallet change amounts and raised the minimum peer protocol version. It was required for masternodes and evonodes but was not a hard fork.
- Implementation:shipped in Dash Core 23.0.0
- Release:stable release published 2025-11-10
- Activation:no consensus change; took effect as nodes upgraded
Sources: Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core 23.0.0 release announcement (external site) · Dash Core developers (dashpay) — Dash Core v23.0.0 release notes (external site)
Topics your AI can explain
Your AI can explain these topics for Dash through the connection, with sources.
Known gaps
What this profile's review did not establish:
- The only throughput figure is the documentation's block-size-derived number; no observed-rate measurement was classified.
- Mining pool concentration, the number of active masternodes and evonodes, and how concentrated masternode ownership is were not measured.
- The cause and expected length of Maya Protocol's network-wide halt seen at review time were not verified.
- The issuer and backing of the DUSD token on Dash Platform could not be verified; whether any issuer-backed stablecoin runs on Platform is unknown.
- KeepKey's coin page lists Dash, but which KeepKey app supports Dash, and whether that support is complete, was not checked.
- Which Trezor models still sign Dash transactions is unclear: Trezor's page does not name them, and its FAQ text conflicts with Dash's docs, which name only the Model One and Model T.
- Dash Core 24.0 was in release-candidate testing at review, meant for test networks only, and a version 24 network upgrade was not yet scheduled for mainnet in the code; its changes were not reviewed.
- Whether Ledger Wallet supports CoinJoin mixing or Dash Platform credits was not verified.
- Wrapped DASH tokens on other chains and bridges other than Maya were not reviewed.
- No maintained atomic swap tool for Dash was reviewed, and the rollup and channel search was not exhaustive because web search was unavailable.
- Past ChainLock or InstantSend outages, missed locks or quorum failures were not reviewed.
- Several DIP documents show Draft or Proposed status in their own headers while the DIP index lists them as Final; activation was taken from Dash Core's chain parameters.
- No official hardware guide for a plain (non-masternode) full node was found; chain size comes from the node software's own hint.
Sources
Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.
- Dash Core chainparams.cpp (master) (external site)
- Dash Core consensus.h: block size limits (external site)
- Dash Core pow.cpp: Dark Gravity Wave difficulty (external site)
- Dash Core primitives/block.cpp: X11 block hash (external site)
- Dash Core script/interpreter.h: script verification flags (external site)
- Dash Core v23.0.0 release notes (external site)
- DIP-0004: Simplified Verification of Deterministic Masternode Lists (external site)
- DIP-0008: ChainLocks (external site)
- DIP-0010: LLMQ InstantSend (external site)
- DIP-0020: Dash Opcode Updates (external site)
- Dash user docs: Features (external site)
- Dash Core developer guide: ChainLocks (external site)
- Understanding Masternodes (external site)
- Dash Core developer guide: Micropayment Channel (external site)
- Dash user docs: Links and Information (explorers) (external site)
- Dash user docs: Hardware Wallets (external site)
- Dash Platform docs: Platform Chain (external site)
- Dash Platform docs: Platform Consensus (external site)
- What is Dash Platform? (external site)
- Dash Platform docs: Identity (external site)
- Dash Platform protocol reference: Protocol Constants (external site)
- Dash Platform docs: Proofs (external site)
- Dash Platform docs: Tokens (external site)
- Dash Platform docs: Fees (external site)
- Dash Evolution v1.1.1 has been released (external site)
- DashPay Maya Swaps Now Live (external site)
- Maya Protocol documentation (external site)
- MAYAChain node API: pools (external site)
- MAYAChain node API: inbound addresses (external site)
- MAYAChain node API: mimir settings (halt flags) (external site)
- MAYAChain node API: last observed Dash block (external site)
- Supported protocols (external site)
- USDC contract addresses (external site)
- Insight Dash block explorer (external site)
- Insight API status (node version and height) (external site)
- Dash Platform Explorer (external site)
- Platform Explorer API: tokens (external site)
- Dash wallet (external site)
- Dash wallet (external site)
- KeepKey coin support (external site)
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Funding disclosure
Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding