What Is Zcash (ZEC)?

Bitcoin’s (BTC) breakthrough brought about hundreds of other cryptocurrencies, such as the Zcash (ZEC) token. As virtual asset users discovered they can keep track of transactions in a blockchain, the demand for confidentiality increased. ZOOKO Wilcox-O’Hearn created Zcash in October 2016 with extra security features to respond to internet users’ demands for an open banking system.

Zcash: Privacy-Oriented Cryptocurrency

Zcash’s mission is to enable everyone to achieve economic independence. With Zcash, everyone has the right to privacy, the pursuit of economic independence is noble, and the future of money is a virtual currency that is impervious to attack and censorship.

Zcash aims to keep the same structure as Bitcoin but with its anonymity and fungibility as an additional feature. Fungibility refers to the ease of replacement of one commodity with another. Money, if it is gold or cash like the US Dollar, is fungible because you may swap it for anything else.

Besides, Zcash’s goal is to give virtual currency customers additional confidentiality during transactions via a decentralized network. Zcash is the same as Bitcoin in terms of digital currency. But the key difference is the degree of privacy and fungibility provided by each of the two virtual assets.

Zcash Features

Zcash is practical and efficient. Cash may be utilized for quick and secure sending of money and carrying out online purchases. In addition, Zcash is regulated and auditable. For information sharing, third-party audits, or compliance with regulatory requirements, Zcash users can have private addresses and transactions.

One of the key features of Zcash is the integration of PIVX-adopted ZK-SNARK technology. Interacting parties are unable to trace shielded transactions. Zcash additionally enables users to deactivate the transaction shield, KYC, and use exchange and brokerage functions.

ZK-SNARK Technology

ZK-SNARKs is an abbreviation for Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Knowledge Argument. They aid in establishing trust while dealing in a blockchain and significantly increase the speed of verifying a transaction while masking data from prying eyes.

The term “zero-knowledge” refers to a situation in which one side wishes to show a true proposition without explaining why it is true.

When interacting with a blockchain, a user may be required to prove that certain conditions are met before completing a transaction. For example, they must demonstrate that they have the necessary funds to complete a transaction while not disclosing how much they have in their wallet.

The ZK-SNARKs system enables two people to carry on their transactions without exposing their addresses. While using ZK-SNARKs, ZEC transactions become untraceable by obstructing the transaction addresses and the value of the Zcash blockchain transaction.

ZK-SNARKs can also be useful to prove one’s identity in a blockchain. For example, if B wishes to confirm A’s identity, they can send a secret message to A without telling them what it is and ask A to decode it using their private key. A can then send the message back to B, therefore establishing their identification.

Zcash’s Advantages over Bitcoin

Zcash employs the ZK-SNARK, which enables network nodes to authenticate transactions without exposing sensitive transaction information. The role of a blockchain, however, is not useless to the general public. Zcash transactions must be routed through a public blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, ZEC transactions do not display the sending or receiving addresses or the amount sent. Zcash transactions may be subject to audits or regulatory compliance to increase transparency and comply with regulatory standards. Further, ZEC coins are much more flexible and efficient than Bitcoin since they are interchangeable or fungible. Bitcoin incorporates previous records and history. However, past records in ZCash transactions have no impact on their existing effectiveness.

Use Cases of Zcash

Investors use ZEC to trade in the exchange platforms such as Coinbase and Binance. What drives many investors to buy the coin is Zcash being a privacy-oriented coin and the fact that it has an academic development team of cryptographers.

The largest crypto payment providers, such as Flexa and Gemini Pay, accept Zcash. In more than 39 thousand large retailers, coffee shops, film theaters, and other institutions, Zcash is currently accepted. The Zcash foundation has continued to engage with partners to enable other usages of Zcash since data protection is necessary both for a medium of exchange and a value store. Hundreds of shops and non-profit organizations already accept Zcash. PaywithZcash is a crowd-based website database where Zcash is available.

Zcash (ZEC) Mining

Zcash depends on miners to add blockchain transactions, like most digital currencies. As the validity of transactions is enhanced by every node in the Zcash network, mining companies are working hard for network protection. Zcash (ZEC) is not staking supportive. It uses the same consensus as Bitcoin for the proof of work (PoW) instead.

Notably, Zcash uses a unique Bitcoin mining algorithm. Equiphash is the algorithm of Zcash that needs the efficient mining of customized ASIC miners. Except for the large numbers of ASIC miners, most users opt for the computer power of a mining pool in order to receive regular rewards.

Mining might be a low-cost way to enter the Zcash markets that are popular among traders owing to their high volatility. If you are a good or lucky trader, you can enhance your profits.

Since its introduction, ZEC has been one of the most expensive cryptocurrencies on the market, peaking at more than $400 in June 2017. Therefore, accumulating a substantial ZEC holding today may allow you to profit from future price increases with less risk than simply purchasing ZEC.

Zcash Security

Zcash Security depends on consensus. Should a program interacting with the Zcash network diverge from consensus, its security will be weak. The cause of the divergence doesn’t matter. It could be a bug in your program, it could be an error in this documentation that you implemented, or it could be that you do everything right, but other software on the network behaves unexpectedly. The specific cause will not matter to the users of your software whose wealth is lost. With that, a specification of intended behavior is essential for security analysis, understanding of the protocol, and maintenance of Zcash and related software.

Conclusion

Since its launch, Zcash (ZEC) token has been a success. It looks like the token is following in the footsteps of its mother Bitcoin platform. Its objective is to provide a secure cryptocurrency platform. Many crypto investors are gaining interest in Zcash cryptocurrency, which is quickly becoming a popular choice.