Interview with Rachel Bassini (Dash 101)

Rachel Bassini is the host of the English version of our new video series Dash 101, which explains the nuts and bolts of digital cash in a simple and entertaining way. I have interviewed her, so that you get to know her better. If you happen to be in Berlin on January 11, you can meet her in person at our launch party, which will take place at Oak & Ice on Schönhauser Allee. Rachel will perform some of her songs. And of course we will screen all eight episodes of Dash 101. 

 

Please tell us something about yourself: where are you from, what is your background, what do you do when you don't host Dash video shows?

I was born and raised in New York City, which really stoked a passion for  exploring neighborhoods, discovering new cultures along the way, and understanding urban development. To have a hand in shaping cities myself, I spent the first part of my life and career in architecture, real estate development, and urban economic development in cities that I thought were incredible: Buenos Aires and other cities in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil; San Francisco and other parts of California; and my hometown, New York. 

Getting to live and immerse in those cities and also work towards improving them was so gratifying, but the bureaucratic, political headaches of real estate development started to get to me. I started to get involved in the tech startup scene, full of dreamers who wanted to "build cool shit" without the constraints of all the red tape. So I joined the team of the NY-based tech startup, NewsCred, and over my 5 years there we grew from a couple people around a desk to a multi-national company, and I learned a ton about scaling the operations of a constantly evolving business along the way.

Two lifelong dreams were still itching though: I'd been dying to live in Berlin and immerse in its funky, weird vibes, and I'd wanted to live as a singer and songwriter, which had thus far onlybeen a side hobby. So I moved here and that's what I now do, while continuing to consult with startups here on growing their early stage, quickly changing businesses. Besides that, I travel a ton to keep discovering new cities and cultures. I have trouble saying no to random side trips.

How did you get involved with Dash 101?

A friend saw a posting from Aaron, the producer of the series, looking for someone to host it in English. I was getting extremely interested in cryptocurrency at the time, so I reached out to Aaron, sent him an audition video at midnight that day, we met up at a wine bar in Mitte and got along wonderfully...so I jumped in!

How would you explain what Dash is to your mom?

Ha, I just spent the holidays with my parents, so I had to explain it to them a few times! They had obviously heard of Bitcoin, so I explained that Dash, like Bitcoin, is one of many digital currencies that exist. It strives to be more user friendly and useful as a currency for everyday  transactions, rather than just for investment and speculation, through features like Instant Send. They kept thinking of Dash as a company so I explained that its development is managed by a DAO, which led to a discussion about the benefits of decentralization and how blockchain works. Then I just showed them our video series!

What were your experiences during the production? 

It was such a great collaborative energy and bonding experience with the small team that worked on it together: Max and Jenny working the camera, lighting, and mic; Annett doing hair and makeup (and bringing me her own clothes because I barely have any of my own in Berlin!); and Aaron directing and giving me really helpful feedback. The biggest challenge would come when you're on your 30th take of the day, you're hot, sweaty and uncomfortable under the studio lights, and you have to act as fresh and alert and enthusiastic as the 1st take of the day. But I learned that your stamina builds up quickly; the 30th take of day two was so much easier than that of day one. I also learned that the really big expressions my face tends to make in conversation doesn't work quite so well on camera!

What do you like about Dash? What are critical points?

Because of the decision-making abilities of masternodes and the treasury available to implement decisions, Dash can keep evolving in an intelligent way to avoid the pitfalls other digital cash systems have faced and to be adaptive to user needs and the evolving ecosystem within which it exists. Instant Send is a perfect example of an adaptive feature of Dash: without this seemingly simple feature, digital cash could never be the convenient, preferred currency of choice for everyday transactions.

What do you personally expect from a digital currency? What are important criteria for you to use it in daily life?

In addition to being able to instantly send money, anything digital needs to be kept extra secure and private. Low transactions fees are also a must. And I'm forgetful, so I appreciate having a way to access my digital cash even if I forget the password or have misplaced my "wallet". There are all these stories now about people digging through their attics- or even landfills! - looking for old hard drives that hold their bitcoins now worth a fortune; I would definitely have lost an old hard drive, so it's probably not the worst thing I missed the early Bitcoin train!

How do you see the future development of digital currencies?

Until there's a critical mass of adoption, values will continue to be volatile and therefore they'll continue to be used more for investment and speculation than for transactions. To achieve this critical mass of adoption, digital cash must be much more user friendly and accessible to all. Because Dash is making that a priority, I think it's definitely moving in the right direction. 

 

Also, making a marketplace requires vendors to get on board. You need to be able to walk into a store, ask if they take Dash, and have the answer often be yes, just like with credit cards. We are a long way away from that, unfortunately, and it will eventually happen if customers demand it, but perhaps Dash, with its masternodes' ability to spearhead initiatives, is in the unique position to accelerate that process.