PS, masternode centralization in the future doesn't cause any problems for darkcoin. I have 2 possible solutions to evaluate for V2 of darksend (ring signatures and encrypted system where the users themselves do the joining relayed through the masternodes.) . Both of these make the masternodes unaware of who is sending money to whom, so centralization isn't an issue at that point.
Regarding future directions:
Anonymity is now the talk of the day. Just as POS was a few months ago, now everyone is scrambling to become anonymous to get a piece of the anonymous pie. Coins are declaring themselves anonymous without having any tech right now, but rather promises of tech that will be arriving. Stuff like stealth addresses and basic darksend functionality are being discussed among minor competitors that want to be pumped by DRK's success.
Now, from what I'm seeing, Bytecoin and clones face significant bloat issues with their ring signatures (cryptonote tech). As they say over in the monero thread (monero is a bytecoin clone), what they have seems like an efficient anonymity tech that doesn't scale. Aside from their usability and compatibility issues for not being a bitcoin-based coin, this renders them near DOA (dead on arrival).
- is MRO scalable? No. Ring signatures add enormous bloat to the block chain that will become a big problem very soon.
They are talking about
8 times the size of bitcoin's blockchain but they have a different type of blockchain in which ring signatures are integrated. Their only debate is whether 8x is considered scalable or not, but the bloat fact is undisputed.
If ring signatures can be implemented on a bitcoin blockchain in a much lighter fashion it'd be an epic win. If not we'll inherit the scalability issues and might have to go for the encrypted system route, provided that it has no weaknesses and that it allows for max anonymity. Competition is getting tougher, DRK must become the undisputed leader in anonymity.