Cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC): review, rate, wallet and prospects

Cryptocurrency Zcash
Zcash (ZEC) has one very important feature that many other cryptocurrencies do not have - anonymity. This is very important in modern conditions, when services like Chainalysis regularly appear, which allow, based on information recorded in the blockchain, to trace the entire history of payments of any user.

Zcash was created in 2016 and became the first cryptocurrency based on zk-SNARK

(zero knowledge proof protocol). Yes, it is currently included in the TOP 100 coins and, together with Monero (XMR), one of the most popular anonymous cryptocurrencies.

• What is Zcash
• Zcash Team
• zk-SNARK and zero-knowledge proof
• How to mine Zcash (ZEC)
• Zcash wallets
• Where to buy Zcash
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Zcash
• Interesting Cooperation
• Bitcoin connection
• Standard payments

Zcash rate

Development prospects and forecast for Zcash

What is Zcash

What is the Zcash cryptocurrency
Zcash (ZEC)

is an open-source cryptocurrency founded in October 2016 by Zuko Wilcox. It became the first coin based on a zero-knowledge proof protocol. The ZEC blockchain records the fact of the transfer of coins, but information about the sender, recipient and transaction amount is hidden. It is one of the most popular anonymous cryptocurrencies.

Zcash was released on October 28, 2016. The creator is American cryptographer and developer Zooko Wilcox. Before launching his own cryptocurrency, Zuko was a fan of Bitcoin, but he didn’t like the fact that everyone could track transactions. Then he had the idea to create a digital currency that would have the basic features of Bitcoin, but would not reveal transaction details.

Wilcox decided to create a new coin by forking the original Bitcoin code, integrating into it the Zerocash protocol - developed by the Zerocoin team.

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The process of preparing the technical basis for Zcash began back in 2013, Matthew Green, head of the Department of Applied Cryptography at Johns Hopkins University. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tel Aviv University took part in the development of the Zerocash protocol itself.

It is worth noting that the launch of Zcash (ZEC) took place without a premine and an ICO, unlike cryptocurrencies that are being created now.

Official website of Zcash

For more information about Zcash, watch the video below:

Zcash Cryptocurrency Review

Zcash

An open-source, decentralized cryptocurrency that provides strong privacy protection. Zcash payments are published on the public blockchain, but the sender, recipient, and transaction amount remain private.

If Bitcoin is like an “http” protocol, only for money, then Zcash is a “https” secure protocol, secure.

Zcash's goal is to provide private transactions as well as selective transparency.

Zcash encrypts the contents of transactions. Since payment information is encrypted, the protocol uses a new cryptographic method to verify its authenticity.

Zcash uses a zero-knowledge proof construct called zk-SNARK, developed by a team of experienced cryptographers based on the latest breakthroughs in cryptography.

These designs allow the network to maintain a secure balance sheet without disclosing parties or amounts. Instead of publicly displaying cost and transaction values, transaction metadata is encrypted and zk-SNARKs are used to prove that no one is cheating or stealing.

Zcash also allows users to send public payments, which work similarly to Bitcoin. With support for both shielded and transparent addresses, users can send Zcash privately or publicly.

Zcash payouts sent from a protected address to a transparent address reflect the received balance, and payments from a transparent address to a protected address protect the value received.

Development team

Because Zcash is an open-source protocol, the Zcash Company (ZcashCo) does not control the blockchain (including control over the mining or distribution of the coin) and does not have special access to private or secure transactions.

ZcashCo's role in the ecosystem is to propose updates to the Zcash protocol, which the public can choose to implement or ignore.

ZOOKO WILCOX – Founder and CEO
of Zooko has over 20 years of experience in open and decentralized systems, cryptography and information security.

The core team consists of 27 employees worldwide. Zcash also has many consultants. Let's highlight some of them.

NATHAN WILCOX – Technical Director

Nathan is passionate about open, secure technologies and has over 10 years of experience in software development, performance analysis and security auditing. Prior to Zcash, he managed development at Least Authority, where he conducted security audits for Ethereum, SpiderOak, Cryptocat, GlobaLeaks, and other projects.

DAIRA HOPWOOD – Engineer and Protocol Developer

Daira has over 20 years of experience as a software engineer with a focus on safety and is a core contributor to the Tahoe-LAFS project. Daira discovered security bugs and design flaws in Java virtual machines, wrote code for the Cryptix cryptography library, and reviewed security audits for the Caja Secure JavaScript project. In her spare time, she develops a robust programming language called Noether.

HUGH KHAN – chief engineer

Hugh has extensive experience scaling startups at global technology firms. He has been building high-performing software development teams for over 25 years. Hugh was either a founding member or a key contributor to technology startups early in his career.

JOSH SWIEHART – Director of Marketing

Josh's primary focus is technology and marketing. Before Zcash, he was director of the global practice for EMC, CEO of Aspenware, and co-founded a couple of other companies with outlets at Accenture and EMC. He started his career as a software developer, data recovery specialist and Sysop BBS. Josh has received numerous global and national awards for leadership and marketing.

Peculiarities

• Confidentiality
• Public blockchain
• Speed ​​of transactions

Road map

June 2022 - network update 0 - overwinter

Network Update 0 - Overwinter is entirely focused on making itself and future network updates safer for users, even in the face of management competition.

September 2022 - network update 1 - sapling

Network Upgrade 1 - Sapling enables an upgrade to the Sapling protocol, bringing both time and memory upgrades to shielded transactions, making mobile wallet support feasible.

In addition, Sapling will rely on the Powers of Tau public participation parameter setting, largely mitigating concerns about the risk of setting parameters for zkSNARK applications (including other applications outside the Zcash blockchain).
General Plans for 2022
An open community of scientists and engineers around the world is already working to figure out what other technology improvements are possible for Zcash and other similar open-source cryptocurrencies.

What's coming: Scalability improvements to allow for a virtually unlimited number of transactions, new consensus algorithms such as Proof-of-Stake, and private and scalable smart contracts.

Besides

July 26, 2022 The Zcash team recently met to develop priorities for two years (until 2020). The group assessed recommendations and options based on time and budget constraints in four areas: utilization, innovation, sustainability and decentralization.

The result is the following:

• Reference Custom Wallet: Creating a reference version of a mobile wallet along with open source libraries
• Acceptance of confidentiality: The team will insist on confidentiality by default. The Zcash protocol and supporting tools must support widespread privacy use.
• Conducting market research that involves studying users and using cases around the world to better understand both current usage and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Research and Development Protocol: Zcash will research scalability and programmability.
• Further exploration of technology to make Zcash extensible and programmable without compromising privacy, decentralization or scalability.
• Business Development and Marketing: The team will continue business development and outreach functions including user and third party developer education, community development, market research, brand development, content development, public relations management and trademark management.
• Ongoing Maintenance and Support: The team will continue ongoing maintenance and support of the Zcash network, including Sapling activation support, security fixes, PoW consensus rule changes, 51% attack resistance, and silent architecture maintenance. Support for zcashd Linux, Windows, and MacOS command line tools will be a priority to encourage third-party developers to develop custom tools.
• Support Decentralization: The team will continue to work with the community and the Zcash Foundation to support decentralization of protocol governance. This includes the ASIC approach. This will be a topic at the Zcon0 conference.

Where to store?

Coins can be stored in several ways:

1. On the official Linux cold wallet, this is the only official way to store Zcash.

   https://z.cash/download.html

   There are also third-party resources approved by the Zcash team:

2. Storing Zec coins in a secure Matbi wallet On this portal, you can easily and safely purchase cryptocurrency, and also store them securely in well-protected wallets! Visit the Matby website to make sure the platform is reliable and convenient!
3. Online wallets are the fastest way to store Zcash.

   Many sites have an app that you can download to your phone to manage your Zcash. Be sure to use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication when available.

   Web apps/wallets that work with Zcash:

   https://guarda.co/wallet/zec?utm_source=zcash&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=wallet https://www.exodus.io https://www.exodus.io https://jaxx.io https://bitpie. com/#services https://www.coinomi.com https://carbonwallet.com https://holytransaction.com https://freewallet.org https://stratum.hk https://waterhole.io

4. Hardware wallets. Hardware wallets are the safest way to store Zcash and other cryptocurrencies.

   Hardware wallets. Hardware wallets are the safest way to store Zcash and other cryptocurrencies.

   The main drawback is that they only support Zcash Transparent Addresses, and cost between $79 and $139. You are purchasing a physical device that has a number of precautions in place to prevent theft, and you can take emergency steps to recover your Zcash if your device is lost.

   Hardware wallets that support Zcash:

   https://www.ledgerwallet.com/?utm_source=https://www.zcashcommunity.com/wallets/&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=cdea&utm_content=

   https://shop.trezor.io

5. Local wallets. These wallets run a Zcash client and a full network node on your computer.

   To use Zcashs private addresses, you need to download one of these:

   https://github.com/zcash/zcash/wiki/1.0-User-Guide

   https://winzec.com

   https://github.com/kozyilmaz/zcash-apple

   Read also:  Bitcoin to US Dollar exchange rate for today, online Bitcoin (BTC) exchange rate chart
6. Store coins on the exchange where they are traded

How to mine?

Zcash runs on the Equihash algorithm and is mined on the usual video cards and ASICs .
Mining Zec on video cards is useless, since ASICs have completely taken over this coin.

What do you need to mine Zec?

You need to assemble a farm or have 1 card in your computer:

• Nvidia from 950ti and above
• AMD from 280x and higher

Cards from Nvidia are best suited for Zec mining, since the Equihash algorithm uses the card's chip more strongly. 1070-1080ti video cards mine Zec better than others.

Pools

Next, you need to select the pool on which you will mine this coin.

https://nanopool.org https://zcash.flypool.org https://www.suprnova.cc https://dwarfpool.com https://miningpoolhub.com https://www2.coinmine.pl

Programs

The company presented its own miner, which currently only works for Linux. You shouldn’t expect anything special from the miner, since it is still being tested:

https://github.com/str4d/zcash/tree/standalone-miner

The following miners are also suitable:

AMD – Claymore Nvidia – Bminer and DSTM

Next, you need to configure the miner for the pool you have chosen. You can on our website.

That's it, now all that remains is to launch the batch file. The mining process has started.

It is also worth noting that the coin can also be mined using ASICs.

Zec has not yet made a decision to change the algorithm and move away from ASICs. Follow her news.

How to get a?

The coin can be obtained in the following ways:

1. Mine with GPU
2. Mine using ASIC (still possible)
3. Buy on the exchange
4. Mine a more profitable coin and sell it on the exchange on the same day in exchange for Zcash

Where can I buy?

In the modern world of cryptocurrencies, more and more companies are trying to deceive investors and crypto enthusiasts by offering them “scam” projects for buying cryptocurrencies.

This is why you need to spend a lot of time choosing a reliable platform for buying cryptocurrencies with Fiat!

Considering that the Zec cryptocurrency is completely anonymous, finding a reliable service that will not disclose your data will take even more time!

Therefore, it is safest to buy the Zcash cryptocurrency through the popular global exchanger Matbi.

Why here, you ask? It's simple: this platform is officially registered and has been successfully operating since 2014! That is, from those times when not many people knew about cryptocurrency. This means that the founders of this platform did not intend to deceive users, but simply did what they loved!

There are also many reviews about the site from major Russian publications, including the newspaper “ Arguments and Facts ”.

Please note that on this platform you can easily and quickly directly buy Zec cryptocurrency for rubles! Also on Matbea you can purchase other cryptocurrencies presented on the platform!

You can view the entire list of cryptocurrencies on the official Matbi website!

You can spend Matbi bonuses by adding them to any desired exchange amount at the time of the transaction.

Buying Zcash cryptocurrency through Matbea

To begin, you must register on the platform.

Go to the main page of the Matby website and click on the “ Login ” button.

Next, in the window that opens, click on the “ Register ” button.

At this stage, you probably have a question: “what anonymity if they require a telephone?”

Yes, at first glance it may seem that there is no anonymity, and personal data will be disclosed.

But that's not true!
A phone is needed for reliability, for maximum security. Since E-mail can be hacked and gain access to your account, a phone is the best, reliable replacement for E-mail. Apart from your phone number, they will not require any other data from you, and your phone number will only be used to log in!
Now you need to fill in 2 fields and accept the conditions:

1. Enter phone number – Enter your phone number. For maximum security of your funds, Matbea asks you to indicate a phone number, not an Email, since Email can be hacked, which means funds can be stolen.
2. Create a password - create a password from non-existent words so that it cannot be guessed by attackers, dilute the password with numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letters. After you come up with a password, be sure to write it down (preferably on paper) and put it in a safe place.
3. Check the box to agree to the terms of the exchanger.
4. Registration – click on this button after filling out all the above fields.

After you click on the registration button, a new window will open, where you must enter the code from the SMS in the specified field, and then click on the “ Send ” button.

This will complete the registration and your profile will open. Now you can buy cryptocurrency securely and quickly.

After you have registered, go to the “ Operations ” tab, it automatically opens immediately after registration.

You can top up your account through a bank, or through payment services:

1. Sberbank
2. Alfa Bank
3. VTB 24
4. Promsvyazbank
5. Russian standard
6. Bank Avangard
7. Via cards (Visa, MasterCard)
8. Qiwi
9. Yandex money
10. Euroset

Choose a convenient payment system. Let's look at the example of “ Yandex Money ”, click on it.

A pop-up window will open. Please note that the top-up amount at a time is from 5,000 to 150,000 rubles.

In the “ Top up Account ” field, enter the amount, for example 15,000 rubles. And click on the “ Top up ” button. The amount you will receive into your account will be immediately displayed.

After you click on the “ Top up ” button, another pop-up window will open, where the Yandex Money Matbea details will be indicated.

We copy this wallet number and pay the entered amount (15,000 rubles in our case) from our Yandex Money wallet.

After you have paid, click on the “ I Paid ” button. After this, another pop-up window will open, where you will have to enter your Yandex Money wallet number and click on the “ Paid ” button.

Then wait within a couple of minutes to an hour for the money to arrive in your Matbea account.

After the money has been credited to your account, you can exchange it for the Zcash cryptocurrency!

To do this, go to the “Exchange” tab and enter the following:

1. The amount of money that you entered and that you want to spend on Zec cryptocurrency
2. Click and a pop-up window will pop up. Select Zec cryptocurrency or another.
3. The number of Zcash coins you will receive (equivalent to the amount entered in step 1)
4. Click on the exchange button to receive Zec coins!

That's all! Matbea is a simple, secure and easy way to buy Zcash cryptocurrency!

Also on the site you can safely store coins in internal wallets! All wallets are cold stored, so there is no threat of losing funds!

Be sure to visit the section of the website with Matbi wallets to make sure of the reliability of this service!

Zcash is traded on all major exchanges. Let's list the main ones:

LBank https://www.lbank.info/trading/zec/btc HitBTC https://hitbtc.com/exchange/ZEC-to-BTC Huobi https://www.huobi.pro/ko-kr/zec_usdt/exchange Bitfinex https://www.bitfinex.com Bit-Z https://www.bit-z.com/trade/zec_btc

You can see a list of other exchanges at the beginning of this article.

Forecast

Zec is a promising anonymous coin. There is a lot of interest in this project. It is also one of the most popular coins on the Darknet.

All this means a high demand for it, and hence an increase in price.

However, it is unknown what will happen to Zec if it does not change the algorithm and support ASIC mining, since ASIC owners will sell Zec coins as often as possible to justify spending on equipment.

Therefore, it is difficult to make an accurate forecast: you need to monitor the Twitter of a given coin and monitor the team’s decision regarding ASICs.

If ASICs still remain, then, most likely, in the future the coin will stand still or even fall a little.

If Zcash abandons ASIC, then there should be a smooth growth, since there is great demand and interest in the coin.

See the description and purpose of the best cryptocurrencies

Zcash Team

Zcash Team
The founder and founder of Zcash is Zuko Wilcox, who has 20 years of experience in the field of distributed systems, cryptography, and cybersecurity. Known for his numerous scientific works in the field of computer science and startups, including DigiCash, Mojo Nation, ZRTP, Zooko's Triangle, Tahoe-LAFS, BLAKE2, SPHINCS. He is also the founder of the Least Authority project.

The team consists of researchers, including scientists from Johns Hopkins University, Berkeley, and Tel Aviv University. In addition, leading developers and marketers are working on the development of the project.

It is worth noting that Zcash (ZEC) has a strong team of advisors, including such well-known personalities as Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Gavin Andersen (Bitcoin Core), Arthur Breitman (Tezos).

Advantages of our Zcash Cortex exchanger

When a client decides to exchange coins for , he can count on the highest benefits and the most profitable investment option. Our platform puts at your disposal all the services necessary to correctly evaluate all available information and exchange crypto-coins at the most convenient moment.

When using our service, you do not need to register an account. You can sell cryptocurrency in a few clicks.

We do not set limits on the number of coins we can sell. Users can change as many coins and make as many transactions as they wish. The platform supports more than 280 crypto coins.

Users may prefer a fixed or floating exchange rate. When a client chooses a fixed exchange rate, the rate remains unchanged for half an hour from the moment of choice. This time is enough to complete the transaction.

zk-SNARK and zero-knowledge proof

Zcash Cryptocurrency Base
The Zcash (ZEC) cryptocurrency operates on zk-SNARK (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge) technology, which uses zero-knowledge proof. Its peculiarity is that it allows you to create completely anonymous transactions, while ensuring their authenticity and security. The zk-SNARK protocol was created in the 1980s by scientists at MIT.

First, let's compare how transactions are recorded in the Bitcoin and Zсash blockchains.

Bitcoin: Wallet DEF456 sent 1.5 BTC to wallet GHI789 on March 1, 2022 at 1:00 am. Zcash: XX ZEC was sent from wallet XXXXXX to wallet XXXXXX on March 1, 2022 at 1:00.

As you can see, unlike the Bitcoin network, the Zсash blockchain does not disclose basic transaction data, such as the recipient’s and sender’s wallets, as well as the payment amount.

What's the secret? The fact is that the Zero-Knowledge-Proof protocol allows you to make transactions, but does not store complete information about them in the blockchain. This plays a very important role in ensuring user security, since thanks to this, attackers cannot “get on the trail” of a specific user due to the inability to analyze transfer data.

How does the Zcash wallet work?

Despite the fact that technically this protocol is based on complex mathematical formulas, the operating principle is very simple. Let's explain it with a clear example:

1. John has two balls of different colors: green and red.
2. Sue is blind and doesn't believe that John's balls are different colors.
3. To test this, she takes the balls, shows one of them to John and asks him to name the color.
4. John says the ball is green.
5. Sue hides the green ball behind her back, shuffles the balls again, and remembers which ball she showed John.
6. She then asks John to choose the green ball from the two shown.
7. John selects the correct ball.
8. Sue says there is a 50/50 chance of John picking the right ball. She's right, but imagine if this operation is repeated a million times? If John is not blind, he will choose the correct ball every time.
9. This way Sue can be sure that John is telling the truth.

The Zero-Knowledge-Proof algorithm works on the same principle - even if the node does not know the information, it can verify that the transaction is correct. In smart words, zero-knowledge proof is probabilistic proof

, and not deterministic (certain), like, for example, Bitcoin.

What future awaits the new currency?

Many experts say that ZCash could influence Bitcoin's position. But this will not happen so quickly, since now cryptocurrency is just beginning to develop. The current capitalization of Zec is in 27th position with the figure of $1,442,822,861. And according to the ZCash chart, the coin is getting cheaper. But due to the unstable rate, which is constantly jumping, you can soon expect that the rate will begin to rise again.

Despite the fact that cryptocurrency is currently going through difficult times, its high potential cannot be denied. This coin is supported by large investors. Among them is the Digital Currency Group, owner of the media about electronic payments. Considering this, the prerequisites for the development of ZCash are more than impressive.

But so far, too little time has passed since the launch of the cryptocurrency to talk about anything related to it with a 100% guarantee. True, there is reason to doubt the high level of anonymity of cryptocurrency. Perhaps its importance is slightly overestimated. The fact is that many states are very skeptical about completely anonymous networks. Therefore, it is quite possible that this particular cryptocurrency will be banned due to the fact that it is used to work with illegal transactions.

This is truly a free-for-all for criminals, and the development team doesn't seem to have taken this into account. If measures are not taken to eliminate this shortcoming, you should not expect anything good from the coin.

If ZCash is banned at the state level, there is a risk that it will go into the shadows. While the developers are working on stabilizing their creation, increasing its reliability and more. Perhaps the thorny issue of legality will soon come up. If done correctly, ZCash has all the ingredients to become the future most popular cryptocurrency in the world.

Considering that the majority of investors in ZCasH are from China, even a policy of a complete ban will not affect the cryptocurrency. It may remain the only method of using digital money in countries where it is punishable by law. The main thing is to close the transaction. In Russia, for now they only want to control the cryptocurrency market. If this happens, it is safest to store your assets on anonymous networks so that no one can figure out how much money a person has. And ZCash will provide this anonymity.

Forecast and prospects for 2022

No expert can give a definite answer to the question of what will happen to the Zec cryptocurrency in 2022. And even psychics, if asked, will find themselves in a difficult position. If we omit all the demagoguery, we can see that economists are divided into two diametrically opposed camps. And everyone has their own opinion:

1. The first camp argues that ZCash will grow. They support these statements by the fact that the coin is supported by a large number of influential investors. In addition, the system receives a good profit from the investments of ordinary users who are interested in the anonymity provided by the system. Therefore, there is ground for development. A detailed forecast was even compiled (very conditional):

Month	Open	Min-Max	Closed	Months,%	Total,%
2018
January	476	397-802	542	13.9%	13.9%
February	542	542-640	598	10.3%	25.6%
March	598	598-743	694	16.1%	45.8%
April	694	694-861	805	16.0%	69.1%
May	805	629-805	676	-16.0%	42.0%
June	676	610-702	656	-3.0%	37.8%
July	656	656-814	761	16.0%	59.9%
August	761	761-945	883	16.0%	85.5%
September	883	883-1055	986	11.7%	107%
October	986	986-1224	1144	16.0%	140%
November	1144	1144-1420	1327	16.0%	179%
December	1327	1132-1327	1217	-8.3%	156%

1. The second camp sees the prospects of cryptocurrency in black. Simply put, experts insist that the exchange rate will fall. The argument is that there are many cryptocurrencies that offer much more options, albeit without maintaining anonymity. They have better investors and higher stability, so the user is more interested in them. Naturally, no one here has thought about drawing up a fall schedule, but the mood is pessimistic.

Both the first and second scenarios are more than likely. But I want to believe in the best. Moreover, cryptocurrencies are strongly influenced by the policies of leading states and the activity of criminal organizations. If the former do not benefit from the anonymity of ZCasH, the latter are delighted with it. If nothing happens in the coming years to upset the balance, Zec will be relatively stable, and even gain a few hundred dollars. Perhaps it will even reach the thousand dollar mark per coin.

How to mine Zcash (ZEC)

Mining the Zcash cryptocurrency
Among the main reasons for the popularity of the Zcash cryptocurrency is a relatively simple hashing algorithm (Equihash) and its high degree of anonymity.

One of the ways to obtain a coin is to mine using special equipment: ASIC or GPU. For the most profitable Zcash mining, it is recommended to use the Antminer Z11, which, according to the hardware manufacturer, is three times more powerful than its predecessor (Antminer Z9). Also, as an alternative, we suggest considering Innosilicon A9, or Innosilicon A9++. Both devices work quite well, but the latter is more powerful than the original A9.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that the algorithm for ASIC is fixed and cannot be changed. In the case of video cards, the owner can independently choose coins and use different algorithms to obtain maximum profits.

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Therefore, if you choose between GPUs, then video cards from Nvidia (GTX 1060-6GB /1070/1080, RTX2060/2070/2070S/2080S) and AMD (Radeon RX 470/480, RX 570/580/590, HD 7990/ 7950 or R9) will be the best option.

In order to get the most out of Zcash mining, it is recommended to use multiple video cards at the same time, as well as join a pool.

To calculate the real benefits of mining Zcash, use a calculator to calculate the payback of coin mining. This can be like a calculator built into the pool site where mining is directly planned, for example, NiceHash (Russian), or any specialized site - WhatToMine, CryptoCompare.

Note that the miner’s income is influenced by such indicators as network complexity, reward for the mined block (at the time of writing 12.5 ZEC), the number of transactions and the size of commissions. And of course, income will directly depend on the cost of the digital asset for which mining is configured.

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Read the full article: Zcash mining: setup, calculator and best pools for ZEC mining

Mining Zcash

Detailed instructions for setting up mining and pools for Zcash mining are on our website.

The relevance of Zcash mining is not clear. It all depends on the power and modernity of your PC, or rather the video card and processor. You need 64-bit Windows or Linux, CPU i core-7 or 6-8 core amd, top-end video cards with memory from 2Gb.

The mining speed is measured not in the usual “hashes per second”, but in solutions per second - Sols/s. The profitability of mining can be calculated using calculators, after determining the speed by running the miner program on your PC. Popular programs: nheqminer_v0.4b and claymores Zcash miner. You can download programs and find out specific settings for them on the pool of your choice.

For Zcash mining, it is not necessary to install a wallet if it is not required by the pool. Mined coins can be withdrawn from the pool to your wallets in crypto exchanges or exchanged for bitcoin. To work, you need an honest, reliable pool, of which there are not many. You can read about pools here.

The best miner for ZCash is Claymore's Miner

You can download Claymore's ZCash AMD GPU Miner v12.6 from the official resources recommended by the developer:

https://github.com

https://bitcointalk.org

Video on setting up Claymore's ZCash AMD GPU Miner v12.6 and its batch file:

Zcash coin mining calculator

To calculate the profitability of Zcash mining, you can use these three calculators:

• https://www.coinwarz.com
• https://whattomine.com
• https://www.mycryptobuddy.com

To get the most objective figure, it is better to calculate the average of all three services.

Zcash wallets

Where to Store Zcash
If you prefer to use the Zcash (ZEC) cryptocurrency due to its inherent privacy, then you should consider official desktop wallets such as ZecWallet and Zepio Wallet, or from a third-party developer, ZECmate. All three support z-addresses, providing maximum data protection.

If reliability and safety of funds are your priority, then hardware wallets are the best option. Support for Zcash coins has been added to hardware devices such as Ledger and Trezor.

You can see a more detailed list of wallets in which you can store the Zcash cryptocurrency in the picture below:

Popular wallets that support Zcash cryptocurrency

Another option for storing digital coins is cryptocurrency exchanges. Most of the leading trading platforms have already listed Zcash. The most popular of them are Binance, Coinbase, Bitfinex, as well as Exmo and Cex.io. On the last two platforms it is possible to purchase for rubles.

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It should be noted that, first of all, exchanges are designed for buying and selling digital currency, and only then for storing it.

How do you use Zcash?

To use Zcash, you first need to make sure you have a wallet. For Linux users there is an official Zcash client. Community members have created modified versions for MacOSX and Windows. You can also choose a third-party wallet app.

If you store a significant amount of ZCash, we recommend a hardware wallet, Trezor and Ledger wallets support ZEC.

You can then obtain Zcash either by purchasing, trading or mining.

Where to buy Zcash

Ways to buy Zcash
Where can you buy Zcash? To determine the most profitable option for purchasing coins, you need to pay attention to the fees charged by the services:

Trading commissions on cryptocurrency exchanges

If you do not have the time or desire to register on the exchange, but you still need to buy Zcash, then you can purchase coins for fiat, for example, through an online exchanger or “from hand”.

If you search for a currency exchange service on the Internet in order to buy Zcash (ZEC) coins, there will be no problems. Dozens of platforms offer to purchase coins for rubles, hryvnia, dollars and other fiat currencies, although the exchange rate on them will be less favorable than on the exchange. The most popular are 365Cash, WMGlobus, FastChange, Xchange, etc.

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Read the full article: Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

As for buying “from hand”, in this case the buyer and seller sell cryptocurrency without intermediaries. Usually the parties find each other on thematic forums and specialized websites. Please note that such transactions are characterized by an increased level of risk.

Buying and exchanging Zcash

If you just want to exchange zec cryptocurrency, then I advise you to use exchangers from this list.

The ZEC cryptocurrency is also a popular financial instrument paired with usd, btc and other forks. It is one of the 10 leaders in terms of capitalization and liquidity. Recently its price has fluctuated around $200 and will probably grow along with bitcoin, ethereum and others.

You can trade it on many exchange platforms, the most convenient and reliable:

• LiveCoin.net
• YObit.net
• EXMO.com
• A few more cryptocurrency exchanges

Advantages and Disadvantages of Zcash

Pros and cons of the Zcash cryptocurrency
Compared to many other coins, the Zcash cryptocurrency (ZEC) has several undeniable advantages:

Anonymity

- this is the main advantage of this cryptocurrency. Because no information other than a time stamp is recorded on the blockchain, transactions are untraceable and the identity of the sender and recipient cannot be determined.

Interchangeability

- this means that each coin has a “pure” history, i.e. it is impossible to know in which transactions it was used. Thanks to this, none of the ZECs can be compromised. This problem is very relevant when it comes to Bitcoin. Some stores and organizations do not accept BTC as payment that was previously used to purchase prohibited goods (drugs, illegal weapons, child pornography).

Safety

— due to the fact that the Zcash blockchain does not store information about user keys, the network and user wallets are more secure.

Energy efficiency of mining

— unlike Bitcoin mining, which requires a large amount of energy resources due to the fact that the computing device needs to perform a large number of operations in a short time, the amount of RAM is crucial for Zcash mining. In short, video cards for Zсash mining consume much less electricity than ASIC devices for Bitcoin mining, which, in addition, require a serious cooling system, which also consumes energy resources.

As for the cons

, then here we can name only one real drawback of Zсash. It concerns the speed and scalability of the network. Thus, it takes 150 seconds or 2.5 minutes to form a block in the Zсash blockchain, and from 6 to 26 transactions are processed per second. There are already cryptocurrencies that are capable of “more.” For example, the Dash cryptocurrency's InstantSend feature allows a transaction to be delivered to the recipient within seconds of it being sent.

Some online publications also mention as a disadvantage that, due to its anonymity, the Zcash cryptocurrency is used in criminal industries for the sale of drugs, weapons, etc. However, it has long been known that no other currency, including Zcash, is used as actively as the dollar in the “dark” economy.

ZEC Specifications

Each cryptocurrency has its own characteristics. In particular, this concerns the technical characteristics of the coin:

• One of the main features to point out when reviewing ZCash is the hashing principle. This coin has Equihash;
• The maximum release of Coin Zec, as in the case of Bitcoin, is 21,000,000 coins. This prevents the possibility of inflation and has a beneficial effect on the exchange rate;
• Every time a new block enters the network, a new coin appears as a reward for the transaction. This takes on average about 150 seconds or 2-2.5 minutes;
• Each Zcash coin is divided into smaller components - coins. You can calculate how many components there are thanks to a simple example - a whole ZCash coin consists of 10-8 ZEC;
• The average block on the network takes up 31.047 KBytes, the maximum block size is 2 megabytes;
• Based on this, the size of the blockchain at the end of 2022 – beginning of 2018 was 8.5 GB;
• Miners receive a block reward. Now it is 10.000360 ZCash coins. Gradually, the size of the reward, just like in the Bitcoin blockchain, will be halved. This reduction will occur every 4 years or after 840 thousand blocks have been formed;
• Zcash's capitalization is $1,427,474,230. But since until recently the coin’s rate was much higher, its capitalization was more than two billion. Even now, although the figure has become a little more modest, it is gradually growing;
• At the beginning of 2022, more than two and a half million coins have already been mined (2,526,344 to be precise). They acted as a reward for the formation of 211,945 blocks.

Despite its rapid rise and recent first positions in the list of the most popular cryptocurrencies, today Coin ZEC ranks 25–26 in the overall list. Of course, this is not so bad, but after the rapid fall in the exchange rate, the level of capitalization also fell - from 15th place to 27th. But the market is taking shape. It is currently concentrated in Asia, but the popularity of cryptocurrency is growing in other countries.

Interesting

Cooperation

Zсash partners
The unique properties of Zсash (ZEC), in particular, anonymity and fungibility, make this cryptocurrency a profitable partner. At the moment: at least five confirmed collaborations can be named:

• JPMorgan
  - at first glance, this cooperation may seem strange, because banks and anonymity are incompatible concepts. However, not in this case. As part of this partnership, JPMorgan plans to improve the privacy and security of its enterprise blockchain, the Quorum network. By the way, in 2022, JPMorgan announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency;
• StarkWare Industries
  - it was mentioned above that low scalability is a real problem for Zcash. The implementation of STARK technology from StarkWare Industries will improve network speed and provide a higher level of anonymity;
• Pundi X
  - Zcash (ZEC) has become one of the cryptocurrencies that will be available for payment through Point of Sale (POS) devices. This is a device for paying for purchases or services using digital currencies. To take advantage of this opportunity, consumers will need to have special XPASS cards on which they can deposit cryptocurrencies from the available list;
• AirTM
  is a project whose goal is to help developing countries through charity. Charity and donations are directly related to anonymity, as many people would not like to reveal their data when making charitable payments. First of all, AirTM plans to expand its activities in Latin American countries, in particular in Venezuela, which is currently experiencing a serious crisis;
• WikiLeaks
  is a non-profit organization that disseminates information taken from anonymous sources or that has been leaked. The organization accepts donations to ZEC;
• Parity Technologies
  , a company involved in the development of solutions for Ethereum, announced the release of the first alternative client for Zcash called Zebra. The new development is designed to improve the security of the Zcash network. Now, if the Zcashd client fails, the blockchain will be serviced by nodes on Zebra.

Bitcoin connection

Bitcoin and Zcash
We have already said that the Zcash cryptocurrency was born as a fork of Bitcoin, so it has “family” ties with the very first cryptocurrency. What do they have in common:

• The minimum ZEC value is called “zatoshi” (almost like “Satoshi J”) and is equal to 10−8 ZEC. The maximum supply of Zcash is 21 million coins, the same as the Bitcoin supply. The last ZEC coin will be mined in 2030;
• Like Bitcoin, consensus on the Zcash blockchain is achieved through a Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm that requires the computing power of devices to operate.

Standard payments

Everyone knows that the Zcash (ZEC) cryptocurrency is anonymous, but it also has the function of sending standard payments that reveal information about wallet addresses and the transaction amount. The entry in the blockchain looks exactly the same as Bitcoin.

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However, unlike the latter, the Zcash user can decide for himself who to open transaction data and who not, thanks to the Key View tool.

Conclusion

For those who value the convenience of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin but would like additional privacy, Zcash offers an excellent alternative. Since it provides all the same features as Bitcoin with the ability to escape addresses, it can easily be used in a similar way without sacrificing user privacy. So it should have a bright future and expand. The use of innovative technologies also shows that these methods are expanding and Zcash is growing in popularity.

buy cryptocurrency on the Binance exchange, review the exchange here...

Additionally:

• 07/16/2020 Heartwood: fourth major Zcash update will increase transaction confidentiality
• 10.21.2020 ZCash update will take place simultaneously with the first halving

Zcash rate

Zcash cryptocurrency rate
Zcash (ZEC) is one of the early cryptocurrencies, occupying 55th position in the CoinMarketCap ranking.

The record price of Zcash was $5941.80 on October 29, 2016. This is exactly how much investors were willing to give for a coin at the start of trading. But as the excitement subsided, the ZEC rate also moved in a similar direction.

A more detailed picture of the Zikesh exchange rate is presented in the chart below:

Zcash cryptocurrency exchange rate chart

Despite such a successful start, Zcash (ZEC) failed to maintain high levels. The price has been reduced to double digits.

At the same time, it is worth noting another rise in price, although it was far from the maximum values ​​of 2016. In January 2022, when the cryptocurrency market was experiencing a price boom and most coins set new records, the ZEC rate rose to $876. At the end of 2022, the value of the cryptocurrency was $61, almost double the value recorded to date. At the same time, the minimum value of the coin was $26.15.

At the end of 2022 and in the first half of 2022, during the next bull run, the maximum price of Zcash was $318, which is more than 18 times less than the maximum and 2.7 times less than the 2018 maximum.

Note that those who purchased at the bottom have already received their profits, and even since the beginning of 2022, the ROI (return on investment rate) result has been more than 100%.

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At the time of writing (June 2021), Zcash (ZEC) is trading at $141.8 with a capitalization of $1.69 billion and ranks 55th on CoinMarketCap. You can track the Zcash rate in real time.

How ZCash compares favorably with other digital currencies

The ZCash currency can easily be called unique, but still all its uniqueness shows itself only when compared with other cryptocurrencies. Let's look at the advantageous differences between this coin and its main competitor, with which it is constantly compared - Bitcoin. It is against this background that the specificity of the cryptocurrency in question and its main feature, which lies in anonymous transactions, are visible:

1. The first distinguishing feature that works in favor of ZCash is the mining algorithm. Bitcoins are mined mainly by ASIC owners, which monopolizes the network. In addition, the reward for miners is reduced. This principle also works for the ZCash cryptocurrency network, but the development team decided not to use a slow start system. Thanks to the fact that no one withheld a commission, miners were able to immediately make good profits. Naturally, many people liked this, especially since at the beginning of its formation the price of the ZCash cryptocurrency increased greatly.
2. The second significant advantage of the cryptocurrency in question is the ability to work on the resources of a regular PC. Even the standard 4 GB of RAM for regular computers is suitable for mining. Of course, the calculation of profitability is minimal, but significantly higher than when mining Bitcoin.
3. The third distinguishing feature is speed. A block in the ZCash cryptocurrency blockchain is formed in two minutes. Which is 4 times faster than the Bitcoin blockchain. Based on this, operations carried out on the Zikesh blockchain are much faster. In addition, there are no problems with unconfirmed transactions, which significantly reduce the price of the world’s first cryptocurrency. In 2022, the problem of Bitcoin blockchain obstruction became almost global. There are almost half a million unconfirmed transactions, and their number continues to grow. Naturally, this cannot but worry the community. Especially when it comes to small amounts, because in this case the commission is even greater than the amount sent. And thanks to the ZCash cryptocurrency, the problem can be circumvented.
4. Well, the main thing that attracts users is the complete anonymity maintained on the ZCash cryptocurrency platform. The payment system can provide complete confidentiality as opposed to the conditional anonymity of Bitcoin. As already mentioned, it is ensured mathematically. And thanks to the decentralization of the network, it is impossible to extract even a particle of encrypted information. To confirm the payment and ensure its security, an innovative cryptographic method is used.

So, taking into account all of the above, and despite its youth, the ZCash cryptocurrency has a lot of supporters. And this despite the instability of its exchange rate.