What makes ZCash special?

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

A common misperception about crypto is that all blockchains provide perfect anonymity. Because wallets are only identified by a cryptic key, owners assume it is easy to hide their real identities.

But in practice, everyone leaves traces behind when using crypto. And with that, scientists, hackers, and governments alike have demonstrated that re-identifying people is much easier than often assumed, especially with big data and ever increasing computing power.

That brings us to ZCash! ZCash was founded by researchers who saw these anonymity problems as a fundamental flaw of Bitcoin, and they improved its code to be privacy focused.

While Bitcoin, like most other blockchains, keeps a public, easily readable record of all transactions, ZCash does not. Instead, it encrypts the transaction details, and only the owner of that transaction can decrypt it.

Think of it like giving a friend a key to your house in case you lock yourself out. With ZCash, you would put that key in a lockbox, pick a code only you know, and only then hand it over. When you need to get into your house, only you can get the contents of the lockbox in the first place.

ZCash comes with drawbacks though. Because it is based on Bitcoin, a now arguably outdated technology, it is also slower and less planet friendly than newer blockchains. In addition, the creators pay themselves an automatic 20% of all new mined coins, which some think is unfair.

That’s ZCash! Next up tomorrow: Dash!

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.