Decred (aka DCR) is a digital currency based on a blockchain that was released in 2016. The word Decred, as is the case with Bitcoin, has a double sense. Both the Decred cryptocurrency itself and the blockchain that enables Decred transactions will correspond to Decred.
The most noteworthy aspect of Decred is its special 'embedded governance' framework. This scheme provides Decred developers with a way to avoid conflicts of interest issues that have generated controversy about some decisions on Bitcoin development. The key issue: some developers of Bitcoin work for a software company called Blockstream that is in the business of developing sidechains for Bitcoin. As a consequence, Bitcoin developers working for Blockstream appear to advocate against introducing new features to Bitcoin that remove the need for sidechains.