Welcome!

This proposal is a request for supplemental funding for the Dash Marketing Hub in order to promote the launch of the DashDirect virtual MasterCard program.

DashDirect recently launched its virtual MasterCard program, which allows any user in the US to effectively spend their Dash at virtually any merchant, without going through KYC or giving up custody of their funds. When either a physical card or in-app NFC functionality (or preferably both) are released imminently, we believe will represent a huge opportunity for Dash to differentiate itself from the field as it will be the only cryptocurrency able to be spent almost universally without a bank account, presenting government ID, or relinquishing one’s private keys. We also believe that this window of opportunity won’t last forever, as other projects may deploy similar solutions, or engage directly with CrayPay to commission their own white label app. Finally, we believe that Dash’s fundamentals and end-user apps are best-in-class yet criminally-underused, and we desperately need some effective marketing to drive in new users. This represents the opportunity to do so.

We have already engaged with the various DFOs such as the Dash Investment Foundation, Dash Core Group, the Dash Incubator, CTX, and Ionia/CrayPay in order to ensure this ask did not conflict with other major upcoming asks this cycle.

We are hereby requesting 300 Dash in supplemental funding to promote the full DashDirect virtual MasterCard launch. This is a one-off request for this specific advertising purpose, and we are already in talks with several advertising avenues to secure a cost-effective and far-reaching campaign. Additionally, any Hub reserves that we can safely commit to this purpose will be added to this proposal’s advertising budget, as well as any donations we have accrued since the last proposal. These efforts will of course supplement, and amplify, earned media and organic reach, but we believe that a healthy spend on paid reach will be necessary to achieve a minimum level of exposure to solidify Dash as far and away more useful as digital cash than any other project.

Our projected spend is as follows (variable subject to the Dash price as well as final advertising rates secured), along with a subsequent priority list for remaining funding:

-Brave campaign: $10-15,000
We are in talks with the Brave Browser to secure an advertisement campaign on the platform including push notifications. Brave’s platform is perfect for targeting crypto-friendly users, and previous Dash ad campaigns with Brave have proven successful. Brave has a $10,000 minimum ad spend, and as such we are seeking to meet the $10-15k range, depending on the deal we secure which makes the most sense.

-YouTube ads
After the initial Brave spend is concluded, we will prioritize running YouTube ads to promote the launch. Since YouTube limits the promotion of financial services and products, we will likely not be able to advertise a video on our own channel. Luckily, we have already located an influencer who will be covering the launch and will seek to boost their content instead.

-YouTuber sponsorships
If the amount of leftover funds from the Brave campaign and YouTube ads is sufficient to pursue this avenue, we will seek sponsorships with key YouTube influencers with US-dominant audiences with an affinity to promoting cryptocurrency’s use case as digital censorship-resistant money.

-Social media boosting
All remaining funds will go to boosting of Hub social media posts (Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) which promote the downloading and usage of the DashDirect app.

All funds will be located at the Hub’s transparent boosting/donation address, and all allocations will exclusively go to payment for explicit advertisements and boosting. All related administrative tasks will be funded through the main Hub proposal funds located at the main Hub proposal funding address. All tasks will go through our standard transparent approval process on our Trello board. For more information, please see our main funding proposal, Trello board, and rules document.