Dash, Arizona State University elevate blockchain research, offer graduate course and scholarships

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Blockchain Research Lab expands applications in wake of soaring industry growth

Tempe, Ariz. - January 17, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Arizona State University and Dash, a top digital currency for payments, today announced a partnership designed to accelerate research, development, and education in ways that advance blockchain transaction speed, efficiency, security, and expand its uses.

The new $350,000 Dash-ASU agreement announced today includes:

The Dash Scholars Program, which provides $100,000 in scholarships for undergraduate and graduate research fellowships;
Research lab and Industry open source projects, providing an additional $100,000 in funding for ASU's Blockchain Research Lab (BRL) and $50,000 in new funding for the Luminosity Lab, and
Blockchain course development, with $100,000 for creating an online graduate course expected to be offered at ASU this fall.
The partnership comes after Dash contributed $50,000 USD in Blockchain Research Laboratory startup funding in August 2017. In November, Dash and ASU announced the creation of the BRL at ASU, the first in academia.

"ASU welcomes this initiative and is ready to play its role in creating a potent blockchain research and innovation environment for young talents to develop practical blockchain applications," said Dragan Boscovic, BRL director and a research professor in ASU's School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering.

Dash is a blockchain-powered digital currency, with a number of unique industry features including InstantSend, PrivateSend and an entirely self-funded, self-governed organizational structure.

Blockchain is a decentralized, tamper-proof digital ledger technology that is transforming transaction prospects for many industries. In addition to being the foundation of cryptocurrencies like Dash, the blockchain structure, which consists of linked blocks of information, allows for direct transactions across a network of computers without need for a central authority.

The BRL is focused on making blockchains accessible for uses beyond cryptocurrency, although cryptocurrency will remain a primary focus. According to Boscovic, the BRL is investigating practical business applications for banking transactions, property exchanges and contract-based dealings that benefit from bypassing third-party brokers. For example, the BRL is currently working with a Phoenix-area company to formulate a blockchain for eco-energy applications, such as exchanging stored solar power within neighborhoods.

Current research channels at the BRL include analytics, shared business platforms that can segment company access based on specific transactions, management of IoT transactions between devices and appliances, nonprofit/humanitarian cryptocurrency transactions, and the development of smart contracts.

"This is a remarkable partnership precisely because both sides will benefit greatly from tight collaboration," said Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core. "Dash benefits from gaining valuable independent insights into how we can improve our plans for scaling to massively large numbers of transactions. ASU will benefit from gaining access to one of the most innovative teams in the digital currency industry. The entire blockchain industry will benefit from the best practices that will emerge from the research, and the creation of a graduate course is a tremendous leap in blockchain's path towards rapid, mainstream adoption."

The BRL is an interdisciplinary initiative that includes faculty from Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, W.P. Carey School of Business, W.P. Carey Information Systems and the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

"The Blockchain Research Lab not only offers students early access to blockchain technologies that are transforming the nature of business transactions, it is providing them an opportunity to be part of the design process and a unique opportunity for real-world innovation and design," said Kyle Squires, Dean of the Ira. A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

BRL Director Dragan Boscovic and Dash Core CEO Ryan Taylor are available for interview

About Arizona State University

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.
About Dash:

Dash is the leading e-commerce and payments-focused digital currency, and the rising alternative to bitcoin. With over 1000% year over year growth in both value and trading volume since 2015, Dash has been consistently ranked in the top ten digital currencies by market capitalization and only one of the few offering safe, decentralized financial solutions to real world problems. Dash offers a form of money that is portable, inexpensive, divisible, and fast. It can be spent easily and instantly online at merchants across the globe, at much lower fees than credit and debit cards. With over 50 members on the development team and a unique blockchain mining and treasury model, Dash is the only major self-funded, self-governed organization in the cryptocurrency industry. This allows for constant development and funding for the entire project so community members can upload and vote on proposals, and if they are approved, they are paid for directly from the blockchain. Dash plans to unveil their landmark product Dash Evolution, the industry's first easy to use decentralized payments platform in 2018.

Contact:Arizona State University:
Theresa Venet Grant
Media Relations Officer
[email protected]
(480) 727-4058 (office)

Interviews and live broadcasts can be scheduled from ASU's radio/HDTV studio on the Tempe campus.