Privacy-based currencies have had problems with adoption by commercial and financial institutions due to problems with AML/KYC laws due to this Dash partnered with London-based startup Confirm to bring the first interwoven solution for AML/KYC compliance in cryptocurrency.
The great news has been met with criticism from different angles, citing confusion among cryptocurrency enthusiasts and analysts on what the partnership means and how it affects Dash’s privacy features.
Compliance has been generally confusing and costly to implement due to the different requirements in nations and industries making it an important point for adoption. The Dash Times spoke to Daniel Diaz head of Business Development at Dash.
The Dash Times: Why is compliance needed for cryptocurrencies and moreover privacy-centric currencies such as Dash?
Daniel Diaz: Regulation in the form of AML/KYC compliance is a topic that garners little sympathy in our community, as a group we feel less regulation is a better model for a successful economy. Having said that, as we make efforts to change the system from within we need to offer some alternatives to already regulated businesses that are running legacy programs so they can transition into digital currency adoption. We should understand it simply as a requirement for some companies to adopt Dash not for us as users. Our networks do not exist in a vacuum so at this stage of the process some interfacing into the existing structures is required. This type of specialized services are coming from third parties that offer tools to enterprise clients and do not affect the Dash protocol or user related features in any way.
TDT: What does Confirm’s partnership mean for the Dash ecosystem?
DD: Dash’s role in our partnership with Coinfirm is to provide all the information they need in the process of adding Dash support to their already existing Bitcoin compliance platform. This opens the opportunity for existing and future Coinfirm enterprise clients, that have a need for these tools, to adopt Dash. Dash as a protocol is not changing in any way related to this opportunity.
TDT: How will this affect business adoption of Dash?
DD: On the business adoption side Coinfirm has committed to recommend and promote Dash as a payment network with their clients and prospects. We would also recommend Coinfirm if a potential partner has a need for their tools. Keep in mind that this is a specific target market of companies that require a compliance platform and that we were not yet reaching. This is broadening our reach and Coinfirm will help us present Dash’s added value features as an option for new entrants to the digital currency market, one of the first industries we will be exploring together is the gaming sector.
TDT: How does this affect the end user and the privacy features of Dash?
DD: As an end user the fact that Coinfirm offers a B2B compliance platform for their enterprise clients changes nothing about my experience, while it can help to raise adoption and confidence for an important sector of the market. Regular users will continue to run their wallets in their computers, mix their coins for privacy, use our InstantSend technology for fast confirmations and interact with Dash in the same way they are used to. But if you are a regulated gaming company looking to adopt digital currencies and you are considering Coinfirm as your compliance platform now Dash will be an option too where before it just was not. So this is directed at a different target market we weren’t reaching before and we are happy to explore it together with Coinfirm.
Daniel finished off the interview exploring the possibility of different use cases for Dash and the need to provide the various participants with tools and features for a positive experience.
“We always need to keep in mind there is an ecosystem of users that will experience the Dash blockchain in different ways. This includes consumers and businesses and we aim to provide the different participants with the tools and features they need to have a positive experience while using the Dash payment network without compromising any of our key features.”
The partnership was followed by the addition of Dash/USD trading pair by Russian-based cryptocurrency exchange, BTC-e indicating the continuous adoption possibilities compliance on the Blockchain presents for the Dash project.
