What Is Zcash (ZEC) How It Works & Where To Buy It?

Zcash blockchain prioritizes privacy and facilitates blockchain-based payments while upholding senders’ and receivers’ anonymity.

The network makes use of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) that are used to mask transactions, even on a public blockchain.

Zcash (ZEC) has quickly become one of the most prominent crypto projects in the blockchain space and is currently the 51st largest cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalization.

How Zcash (ZEC) Works

Zcash is a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain and has made some of the most formidable privacy advancements of any blockchain.

The team has been especially privacy-oriented, recognizing the need for privacy amidst a world that keeps becoming more centralized. Zcash and its native digital currency ZEC were created by the Electric Coin Company.

Zcash utilizes two types of addresses:

Transparent addresses – The t-addresses or transparent addresses are only visible on the Zcash blockchain – similar to transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Shielded addresses – Typically called z-addresses, these addresses are virtually masked and are encrypted. You aren’t able to see any transactions sent to them – you also can’t see how many funds a z-address holds.

Zcash achieves this by implementing zk-SNARKs which allow the verification of transactions through consensus, while still allowing the transaction to remain encrypted.

Zcash started as a project that had a big vision but has expanded on this vision even further, increasing adoption and creating one of the most secure blockchain systems in the crypto space.

It provides users with transparent transactions thanks to the tools and software articulately crafted by electric coin – the project is pioneering freedom through technology.

The project’s services perfectly align with individuals who prioritize their transactional privacy and don’t want their data distributed. Access to the data is withheld from prying eyes and allows anyone with access to the web to remain anonymous when sending or receiving transactions on the Zcash network.

What Is Zcash (ZEC) Used For?

Zcash is predominantly used by individuals and other parties for transactional privacy. The Zcash network facilitates anonymity with transactions, a feature that most other blockchains simply can’t offer consumers.

Consistently improving privacy is achieved through the Halo Arc upgrades and other integral privacy mechanisms that Zcash has implemented since its launch.

The network caters to the privacy interests shared by many blockchain enthusiasts. An app like Facebook already gathers sensitive data like personal preferences and location but if we were to measure users’ privacy on Facebook, it would likely be a very low number.

Major apps like Uber and Facebook are notorious for using users’ data to upsell them and develop strategies to improve sales. Zcash is only focused on giving consumers their privacy back – allowing people to interact anonymously on the network.

Additionally, many people trade ZEC tokens because they are susceptible to volatility and price fluctuations. This makes the ZEC favorable for swing or arbitrage trading.

Where To Buy Zcash (ZEC)

Zcash (ZEC) is the native token of the privacy-oriented Zcash network. The ZEC token is a popular cryptocurrency that is traded on most centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. The ZEC token experienced its most significant trading volumes in September 2020, when the 24-hour volumes exceeded $11 billion.

Some of the most popular crypto exchanges used by US traders are:

• OKX
• Coinbase
• KuCoin
• HTX

Crypto investors always need to prioritize safety and security. The crypto space is filled with ”rug pulls” and scam projects – people take advantage of the lack of infrastructure.

Another common issue is that exchanges are hacked from time to time. The best way to avoid potentially losing access to your crypto is to download a trusted digital wallet or store your tokens on a hardware wallet.

Trust Wallet is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world and has become a favorite for many people in the crypto space.

About Zcash (ZEC)

How long has Zcash (ZEC) existed?

Zcash launched on the 28th of October 2016. The project was initially founded by Matthew Green, Ian Miers, and Christina Gaman in 2013 and was called Zerocoin. The response from the community motivated the founders to find additional scientists and fellow blockchain specialists to develop what is today known as Zcash.

The ZEC cryptocurrency has seen extreme price volatility since its listing, ZEC’s price reached an all-time high of $1,624 when it was listed in October 2016.

What’s controversial about Zcash (ZEC)?

The crypto space is exciting and filled with innovation. Many of the projects in the space are redefining finance, providing solutions to global issues, and helping build a decentralized future. Unfortunately, many projects entering the over-saturated crypto space aren’t credible – these scam projects often mislead investors, only to run off with the hard-earned money the investor deposited.

It’s more important than ever before to do research into any crypto project before you invest. Research the founders, partnerships, and the use cases of the project – try to suss out any clearly problematic information.

Let’s take a look at the two biggest controversies surrounding Zcash (ZEC):

• Delisting from exchanges – Privacy coins haven’t had the easiest journey over the past few years and many exchanges have gone ahead and delisted them. Bittrex delisted Monero, Dash, and Zcash in 2021 – privacy coins have been delisted by multiple exchanges.

  However, Bittrex didn’t give any reason for delisting the privacy coins but many people believe it’s because of compliance protocols including Anti-Money Laundering and Know-Your-Customer. The delisting of these coins is indicative of pressure received from regulators.

• Competitors – Zcash has quickly become one of the most popular privacy coin projects. amassing a significant amount of investment and interest from retail investors. However, it is competing in a market that has some other notable privacy coins.

  Some of the biggest competitors include Dash and Monero (XMR) which have grown exponentially since their listing. Monero currently has a market cap of more than $4 billion – making it the biggest privacy coin on the market and the 33rd largest cryptocurrency in the world.

How many Zcash (ZEC) tokens are there?

At the time of writing, Zcash (ZEC) has a circulating supply of 14,315,968.75 ZEC.

The total supply of Zcash (ZEC) is 14,315,969.

The max supply of Zcash (ZEC) is 21,000,000.

Can Zcash (ZEC) be mined?

Zcash (ZEC) is a mineable cryptocurrency. Like Bitcoin and Ethereum which uses a proof of work consensus mechanism, Zcash also uses a proof of work consensus algorithm.

The mining difficulty is adjusted for Zcash and the current difficulty requires miners to use at least an ASIC mining rig.

Miners are required to compete to produce new blocks to solve a hash – upon the solution for one block, another is opened and block rewards are distributed.

Some centralized exchanges also offer staking rewards for users who lock up their ZEC tokens for a duration.

What is the market cap of Zcash (ZEC)?

The market cap of any cryptocurrency can be calculated as follows: the total amount of coins in circulation times the current market price of the coin.

Zcash (ZEC) Market Cap = 14,315,968.75 ZEC x $137,05 = $1,96 billion (51st largest cryptocurrency by market cap).

Biggest Competitors Of Zcash (ZEC)

Zcash is one of the most popular privacy-oriented projects that has amassed a significant position in the crypto market. However, Zcash is not the only project on the market that is aiming to provide privacy solutions to individuals.

Zcash’s top competitors are:

• DASH
• Monero

Historically privacy coins have been especially controversial, with many regulators and exchanges citing complications with the projects. Many exchanges like Bittrex have chosen to delist privacy coins citing fraud concerns and non-compliance with KYC.

What Are The Future Plans Of Zcash (ZEC)

Zcash continues to build and enhance the project by creating privacy-focused tools and functionality that provide users with decentralized privacy features. The transparent addresses and shielded addresses have been majorly successful and have attracted hundreds of thousands of users to the Zcash platform.

Going forward, the project will continue focusing on enhancing security and privacy features while bolstering user adoption of the products the project offers.

Pros And Cons Of Zcash And ZEC Token

Pros:

• Low supply – Zcash has a total supply of 14,315,969 coins and this is one of the reasons the token price remains high. Most other projects have much higher total supplies which often negatively impact the price of the token.
• High privacy levels – Zcash is one of the most credible privacy-oriented blockchain projects in the world.
• Real utility – There is a need for privacy coins because they offer people privacy, security, and a more decentralized transaction experience. Privacy coins are devoid of centralization issues associated with most other projects.

Cons:

• Competition – The market for privacy coins has been growing extensively over the past few years and there have been a few influential projects that have dominated the crypto niche.

  Many projects are emerging but not all of them are as credible as current market leaders – Monero (XMR) is currently the largest privacy-oriented blockchain project on the market. It’s the 33rd largest cryptocurrency in the world and the biggest competitor to Zcash (ZEC).