When you make a transaction using, anyone can see the amount stored in your wallet. As a privacy coin, Dash enables you to privately send and receive payments. In addition to private, low-fee transactions (is that not enough?), Dash’s InstantSend feature ensures that transactions are processed instantly. From a technological perspective, InstantSend sets Dash apart from other cryptocurrencies.

Paying with Cryptocurrency

When you send cryptocurrency from your wallet, the transaction is signed using the wallet’s private key and broadcast to the network. The transaction must be confirmed, which verifies the payment went out and is irreversible. For efficiency, blockchains process “blocks” (groups) of transactions, not individual transactions one at a time. Block size limit (how many transactions fit in a block and the block time) directly impacts processing speed. Confirmation of a transaction happens when it is included in the next block of transactions. Every block that follows the transmission of the transaction is a confirmation.

Paying with Dash’s InstantSend

As with cash, when you pay a merchant with Dash InstantSend, the payment happens quickly, without having to wait for time-consuming block confirmations. By default, the Dash network tries to upgrade qualifying transactions to InstantSend — the sending wallet does not have to explicitly request it.

The Role of Masternodes

Behind the scenes, Dash masternodes are the processing agents for InstantSend. Masternodes form Long-Lived Masternode Quorums (LLMQs), tasked with validating submitted transactions. If a transaction is validated, masternodes block entries and transmit them to the network. They essentially promise the network that they will later be included to extracted blocks. This prevents duplication of entries during full confirmation. The transaction input locking process only occurs within the quorum, which reduces network traffic. As a result, in less than a second, InstantSend enables the recipient to receive a confirmation.

Why Dash InstantSend Rocks

If the goal of cryptocurrency is to replace traditional cash, transaction speed is critical. Think about entering your credit card on a website — if it took 10 minutes to complete, you’d probably cancel out after 30 seconds. We’re used to the benchmark set by credit cards, whether at a store on in ecommerce. Dash is well suited to perform in “point of sale” environments where a payment needs to be immediately processed. The challenge of digital coins, though, is when bad actor game the system with double-spending. Using quorums, Dash masternodes solve this problem and expedite processing by minimizing traffic around the lock and validation. InstantSend shines because of its unique efficiency combined with security.