Zcash (ZEC) will move to proof of stake – what does this change for anonymous altcoin?
A new mark of confidence for proof of stake? Anonymous altcoin Zcash (ZEC) has confirmed that it will transition to this consensus model in the coming years. Zoom on the reasons and the advantages for the payment network.
Zcash will move to proof of stake.
The possibility was raised last summer by Zooko Wilcox, the creator of the anonymous cryptocurrency. The latter left the community the choice to decide whether a switch from Zcash to Proof-of-Stake was wise or not.
As a reminder, Zcash currently works with Proof of Work, being a “code fork” of Bitcoin (BTC). There is no need to recall the criticisms currently made of this consensus model, which is sometimes considered too expensive in electricity and difficult to scale.
Zcash’s new roadmap
The Electric Coin Company, the entity that manages the altcoin, shared the new roadmap in a post that came out over the weekend. By 2025, Zcash is expected to have fully transitioned to proof of stake.
The network would no longer be secure thanks to minors, as is currently the case, but by the “staking” process. According to Wilcox, Zcash’s move to proof-of-stake will have investment benefits, with staking favoring long-term coin ownership.
But the change is also a matter of reputation, as he detailed last summer:
“A large part of the population will always refuse to use or accept crypto based on Proof of Work and for Zcash to reach its potential as a global monetary standard, it must be acceptable and useful to as many people as possible.“
Good news for the ZEC course?
Another advantage, according to the Electric Coin Company: if Zcash works with proof of stake, the selling pressure will reduce:
“The benefits include reducing the downward pressure on the price of ZEC , as currently most miners immediately liquidate their ZECs to exchange them for BTC or fiat. “
This is a significant stake: the price of the ZEC is currently at a price 93% lower than its absolute record, which dates from 2016. It had then exceeded 3,191 dollars, but this morning is only worth 207 dollars.
A rather optimistic forecast?
Will the Zcash network manage to transition to proof of stake in such a short time? As a reminder, Ethereum (ETH) has been entangled for many years in an interminable transition to this consensus model. According to the Electric Coin Company, 2025 remains an attainable date :
“We believe that the transition to proof of stake is feasible within three years, if we manage to focus our time and efforts, while recruiting new talent. “
