Decred (DCR)

Decred is an independent Layer 1 cryptocurrency focused on adaptable governance, sustainable development funding and direct participation by coinholders. Its mainnet launched on 8 February 2016 after development began in 2014.

The network combines Proof of Work with Proof of Stake voting. Proof-of-Work miners construct blocks, while randomly selected stakeholders vote to approve blocks and decide whether proposed consensus changes should activate. The current block subsidy is divided between Proof-of-Work miners, Proof-of-Stake voters and the Decred Treasury.

Decred’s Proof-of-Work system uses the BLAKE3 hashing function. Coinholders can lock DCR to purchase voting tickets, participate in network governance and vote on how treasury funds are used. The treasury receives a portion of each block subsidy, allowing development and other approved work to be funded without relying solely on external investors or corporate sponsors.

The wider Decred ecosystem includes Politeia, its proposal and treasury-governance platform; DCRDEX, a peer-to-peer exchange based on atomic swaps; Lightning Network support; and optional CoinShuffle++ privacy. The project maintains a maximum supply of approximately 21 million DCR.

Decred is open-source and governed through a combination of on-chain stakeholder voting and publicly documented proposals. Project information, network activity, treasury transactions and consensus votes can be independently reviewed through its official documentation, repositories and block explorer.