When and why the Decred cryptocurrency was created?
Decred takes over Bitcoin properties in many ways, while Decred and Bitcoin projects employ the same development team. Unlike the Bitcoin cryptocurrency based on SHA256 algorithm, Decred is based on BLAKE256 algorithm. The development of Decred went through 2016, and the first wallet program was released in 2017. Each user of Decred can vote when choosing further ways to develop the project. The proposal will be accepted, if it supports at least 75% of the free public nodes. Decred nodes support Lighting Network technology, which allows you to make transactions almost instantly. As in the case with Bitcoin, the Proof of Work algorithm is used, which relies on miners to confirm transactions between DCR nodes. However, in addition to Proof of Work, the Proof of Stake algorithm is used. The feature of Decred, which has a very small number of cryptocurrencies is the ability to return the payment sent by mistake or without the knowledge of the owner of the wallet.
Which units of account Decred uses?
The account address for receiving or sending Decred always begins with the letter D and contains 26 to 36 alphanumeric numbers. As with Bitcoin, the maximum amount of Decred is limited to 21 million. However, if Bitcoin miners get a 100% block reward, then Decred miners get a 60% block reward. Another 10% goes to the Decred project development fund and 30% is distributed among Proof of Stake DCR nodes. In contrast to Bitcoin, the reward for a block Decred decreases smoothly. While only mining on ASIC has long been relevant for the Bitcoin cryptographic software, mining Decred is mainly produced by graphics cards with powerful GPUs. It is possible to configure the program for mining so that mine is both Ethereum and Decred.
How the DCR nodes of Proof of Stake work?
Decred nodes, confirming the Proof of Stake principle is one of the main differences from the original Bitcoin algorithm. The chances of the DCR node to get a reward for block signature computation are directly proportional to the number of "tickets". To increase the chances, the Proof of Stake miners combine their "tickets" in pools. The Decred algorithm randomly determines the lucky DCR node and counts the reward. There is the competition between the DCR nodes of Proof of Stake and the DCR nodes of Proof of Work, so there is an independent verification of transactions.
The anonymity of Decred
In Decred, the confidentiality of transactions is built at the algorithm level, which uses the signature schnorr. Also, the CoinShuffle++ coin shuffling protocol is added. Decred transaction passes CoinJoin procedure, which allows to mix elements of different transactions anonymously. Decred developers pay much attention to privacy and constantly update the software code. Decred developers are currently implementing a Taproot update that combines the keys and signatures of several transactions into a single Schnorr signature which is not available for cryptographic analysis by a third party.
Further development of Decred
In the future, Decred will get smart contracts and the ability to create decentralized applications based on Decred blockchain. Each full Decred wallet is synchronized with the blockchain and becomes one of the blockchain nodes provider. There are wallets for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Unix. Mobile wallets are developed which will be lightweight Decred nodes in the network and will be able to send and receive transactions without the need to download the complete blockchain. It is planned that in the future all Decred wallets will support Lighting Network technology. This will allow making transactions almost instantly. Currently, Lightning Network (LN) is supported only by wallet Decredon version 1.5 and older.
