Cryptocurrency is growing daily as different projects are being launched while existing projects are looking for ways to better than the first crypto, Bitcoin.
Zcash is one of the fast-growing altcoins you need to be familiar with especially if you will be diversifying your crypto portfolio.
In this post, you’ll learn all you need to know about Zcash (ZEC) and its features as a digital asset.
What is Zcash (ZEC)?
Zcash is a decentralized cryptocurrency focused on privacy and anonymity. It uses the zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proof technology that allows nodes on the network to verify transactions without revealing any sensitive information about those transactions.
Trading by the symbol, ZEC, this crypto project is founded in 2016 by cypherpunk, computer security expert and entrepreneur Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn. He is also the founder of the for-profit Electronic Coin Company (ECC), which manages the development of Zcash. The token was first released on October 28, 2016, and it was originally based on Bitcoin’s codebase.
Contrary to a common misunderstanding, the majority of cryptocurrencies on the market, including Bitcoin (BTC), are not anonymous, but rather pseudonymous; while they do not explicitly reveal the identities of their users, each user has their own public address or addresses which can be traced back to them via the methods of data science and blockchain forensics.
Zcash transactions, on the other hand, still have to be relayed via a public blockchain, but unlike pseudonymous cryptocurrencies, ZEC transactions by default do not reveal the sending and receiving addresses or the amount being sent. There is an option, however, to reveal this data for the purposes of auditing or regulatory compliance.
What Makes Zcash Unique?
Zcash’s main advantage lies in its optional anonymity, which allows for a level of privacy unattainable with regular, pseudonymous cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
ZEC transactions can be sent in two ways: transparent and shielded. Transparent transactions work in about the same way as in Bitcoin, whose codebase Zcash was originally based on: they are sent between public addresses and are recorded on an immutable public ledger (the blockchain). All essential information about these transactions is available online for anyone to see, including the sending and receiving addresses and the amount sent.
These public transactions do not reveal user identities in an overt manner: the only identifiers an outside observer can access from the blockchain are public addresses. However, through the efforts of data scientists and law enforcement over recent years, the methods of blockchain analysis have been developed to the point where an interested party can fairly reliably connect a public address on a blockchain to the real-world identity of its owner, essentially making private transactions impossible.
Shielded ZEC transactions, on the other hand, leverage the technology of zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge, or zk-SNARKs, in order to enable completely anonymous transactions to be sent over a public immutable blockchain. The fact that the transaction has happened is recorded on the ledger, but the sending and receiving addresses and the amount sent is not revealed to the public.
This allows Zcash to offer its users the right to privacy while still enjoying the advantages of a decentralized, permissionless digital currency.
How Is the Zcash Network Secured?
Zcash network is secured by the proof-of-work SHA-256 hash function which belongs to the SHA-2 set of algorithms — same as Bitcoin.
Where Can You Buy Zcash (ZEC)?
Zcash is a high-ranking cryptocurrency. It is possible to buy Zcash on a number of major exchanges, some of which are:
Binance
HitBTC
Huobi Global
BKEX
OKEx
Zcash Worth in the Crypto Market
Zcash price is currently $35.56 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $41,574,291 USD. The current CoinMarketCap ranking is 81st out of thousands of crypto assets, with a live market cap of $580,662,098 USD. It has a circulating supply of 16,328,269 ZEC coins and a maximum supply of 21,000,000 ZEC coins.
Closing Thoughts
Zcash could be an people when diversifying your Crypto portfolio. However, you need to make your research before in Crypto assets before investing in them.