What Value does Decred (DCR) have?
Decred (DCR) is a privacy cryptocurrency with a very interesting feature. Notably, Decred’s developers plan to offer smart currency connected to the Lighting Network.
The Lightning Network is a sidechain ecosystem designed to solve Bitcoin’s (BTC) scalability problem. To explain, the current Bitcoin blockchain can only process between five and 10 transactions a second depending on which expert you ask.
To explain all the encryption in the Bitcoin blockchain leaves little room for transactions. Hence it impossible to make large numbers of Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. E-commerce platforms and other businesses are reluctant to use Bitcoin because it is not fast enough for their payment processing systems.
Decred (DCR) Harnesses the Lightning Network
Sidechains are less-encrypted digital pathways that act as shortcuts around the blockchain. The Lightning Network protocol adds layers of sidechains to Bitcoin. Sidechains speed up the transaction process because they have a greater capacity and higher speed than blockchains.
For example, the Lightning Network’s builders claim it can process 333 Bitcoin transactions a second. Hence, an application built with Lightning could process up to 333 Bitcoin payments a second without crashing.
The Lightning Network contains larger numbers of nodes designed to move large volumes of Bitcoin. Notably, the Lightning Network claimed to have over 4,000 nodes in operation on 19 November 2018.
Moreover, the Lighting Network is adding solutions like the Liquid Network sidechain. The Liquid Network is a sidechain designed for large organizations such as businesses, banks, and cryptocurrency Exchanges.
The Lightning Network is even offering a plug-in for Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) Excel. This plug-in could encourage Bitcoin (BTC) use because Excel is one of the world’s most popular accounting solutions. 500 million people worldwide reportedly use Excel, The Irish Tech Times claims.
Decred (DCR) joins the Lightning Network
Future plans at Decred (DCR) include smart contracts designed to work with the lightning network.
Uniquely, a Decred smart contract with Lightning Network connectivity could make automatic payments in Bitcoin (BTC) or Decred (DCR). Additionally, such smart contracts could tie into the Liquid Network and other planned Decred solutions.
Those solutions could include a hybrid proof-of-work (PoW), a hybrid Proof of Stake (PoS) voting system, cross chain atomic swaps between cryptocurrencies, and easy to use cross-platform wallets. However, there is no evidence Decred has achieved Lightning Network connectivity or got any of those proposed solutions to work.
So what is Decred (DCR) Anyway?
Decred (DCR) is a privacy cryptocurrency. A privacy cryptocurrency is an altcoin designed to provide a high level of privacy and anonymity.
The difference between Decred (DCR) and rivals like DASH (DASH) is they designed Decred for cross-platform use. To clarify, Decred will supposedly work on a wide variety of platforms at once.
For example, you could use Decred to buy altcoins on an exchange, buy play at your favorite gaming platform, send a remittance to your cousin in Venezuela, and make purchases at online stores. Markedly, none of these options is available with Decred.
Instead, all the Decred plans, like the Lightning Network connectivity, are on the drawing board. Currently, the only the only Decred solution available is a social media proposal called Politeia. In detail, Politeia allows you to see proposed Decred projects and solutions.
How is Decred (DCR) supposed to work?
Decred (DCR) is supposed to achieve connectivity by following the rules of different digital applications.
Thus, Decred could theoretically operate in several different ecosystems. Hence a Decred smart contract could theoretically work with the Ethereum Blockchain, the Lightning Network, and Ripple’s (XRP) remittance network.
In addition, Decred offers direct-on-chain user activated consensus votes. They designed this feature to give stakeholders more control over the Decred ecosystem.
What Value Does Decred (DCR) have?
All Decred’s (DCR) present value is theoretical because there are apparently no real-world applications using it.
Mr. Market, however, thinks Decred has a lot of potential. For example, Decred (DCR) was CoinMarketCap’s 29th ranked cryptocurrency with a Market Capitalization of $175 million on 26 November 2018.
Moreover, Decred achieved a Market Volume of $1.3 million and a Coin Price of $19.77 on the same day. In addition, there was a Circulating Supply of 8.882 million DCR and a Maximum Supply of 21 million Decred on November 26, 2018.
Decred (DCR) is a Theoretical Cryptocurrency
I think Decred’s (DCR) current value is purely theoretical and speculative because there are no real world uses.
However, Decred’s creators have some very interesting plans. Therefore, Decred (DCR) is a cryptocurrency to watch not to buy.
