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On May 19, 2020, a paper titled "Alt-Coin Traceability"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ye|first=Claire|last2=Ojukwu|first2=Chinedu|last3=Hsu|first3=Anthony|last4=Hu|first4=Ruiqi|date=2020|title=Alt-Coin Traceability|url=https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/593}}</ref> investigated the privacy of both Zcash and [[Monero_(cryptocurrency)|Monero]]. This paper concluded that "more academic research is needed in Zcash overall" and that the privacy guarantees of ZCash are "questionable". The paper claimed that since the current heuristics from a 2018 Usenix Security Symposium paper entitled "An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in Zcash"<ref name=":0" /> still continue today that the result is making ZCash less anonymous and more traceable.
On May 19, 2020, a paper titled "Alt-Coin Traceability"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ye|first=Claire|last2=Ojukwu|first2=Chinedu|last3=Hsu|first3=Anthony|last4=Hu|first4=Ruiqi|date=2020|title=Alt-Coin Traceability|url=https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/593}}</ref> investigated the privacy of both Zcash and [[Monero_(cryptocurrency)|Monero]]. This paper concluded that "more academic research is needed in Zcash overall" and that the privacy guarantees of ZCash are "questionable". The paper claimed that since the current heuristics from a 2018 Usenix Security Symposium paper entitled "An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in Zcash"<ref name=":0" /> still continue today that the result is making ZCash less anonymous and more traceable.


On June 8, 2020, Chainalysis added support for ZCash to their Chainalysis Reactor and "Know Your Transaction" (KYT) technologies.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Introducing Investigation and Compliance Support for Dash and Zcash|url=https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/introducing-chainalysis-investigation-compliance-support-dash-zcash|access-date=2020-09-05|website=blog.chainalysis.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-09|title=Not So Private: 99% of Zcash and Dash Transactions Traceable, Says Chainalysis {{!}} Altcoins Bitcoin News|url=https://news.bitcoin.com/not-so-private-99-of-zcash-and-dash-transactions-traceable-says-chainalysis/|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Bitcoin News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Chainalysis Can Now Track Your 'Privacy Coins' Zcash & Dash|url=https://cointelegraph.com/news/chainalysis-can-now-track-your-privacy-coins-zcash-dash|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Cointelegraph|language=en}}</ref> This permits Chainalysis to trace and provide transaction values and at least the sender or receiver address for over 99% of ZCash activity.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Chainalysis explains that it is able to accomplish this since most ZCash users do not use privacy-enhancing features.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Chainalysis also cites a research paper by the RAND corporation<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Silfversten|first=Erik|last2=Favaro|first2=Marina|last3=Slapakova|first3=Linda|last4=Ishikawa|first4=Sascha|last5=Liu|first5=James|last6=Salas|first6=Adrian|date=2020-05-06|title=Exploring the use of Zcash cryptocurrency for illicit or criminal purposes|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4418.html|language=en}}</ref> which revealed that less than 0.2% of the cryptocurrency addresses on the dark web were ZCash addresses.<ref name=":1" />
On June 8, 2020, Chainalysis added support for ZCash to their Chainalysis Reactor and "Know Your Transaction" (KYT) technologies.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Introducing Investigation and Compliance Support for Dash and Zcash|url=https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/introducing-chainalysis-investigation-compliance-support-dash-zcash|access-date=2020-09-05|website=blog.chainalysis.com|language=en}}</ref> This permits Chainalysis to trace and provide transaction values and at least the sender or receiver address for over 99% of ZCash activity.<ref name=":1" /> Chainalysis explains that it is able to accomplish this since most ZCash users do not use privacy-enhancing features.<ref name=":1" /> Chainalysis also cites a research paper by the RAND corporation<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Silfversten|first=Erik|last2=Favaro|first2=Marina|last3=Slapakova|first3=Linda|last4=Ishikawa|first4=Sascha|last5=Liu|first5=James|last6=Salas|first6=Adrian|date=2020-05-06|title=Exploring the use of Zcash cryptocurrency for illicit or criminal purposes|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4418.html|language=en}}</ref> which revealed that less than 0.2% of the cryptocurrency addresses on the dark web were ZCash addresses.<ref name=":1" />

On June 30, 2020, blockchain analysis company Elliptic added support for ZCash to their crypto transaction monitoring and wallet screening compliance solutions.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Robinson|first=Dr Tom|title=Lower risk than bitcoin? Achieving AML and sanctions compliance with privacy coins|url=https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/achieving-aml-and-sanctions-compliance-with-privacy-coins|access-date=2020-09-15|website=www.elliptic.co|language=en}}</ref> According to the developer of ZCash, The Electric Coin Company, Zcash privacy remains strongest of any cryptocurrency, even with Chainalysis, Elliptic support.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-30|title=Zcash privacy remains strongest of any cryptocurrency, even with recent Chainalysis, Elliptic support|url=https://electriccoin.co/blog/zcash-privacy-remains-strongest-of-any-cryptocurrency/|access-date=2020-09-15|website=Electric Coin Company|language=en-US}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 17:52, 6 November 2020

This article is about the cryptocurrency Zcash. Not to be confused with Zerocoin or zcache.

Zcash
Denominations
CodeZEC
Development
White paperZcash Protocol Specification
Initial release28 October 2016; 7 years ago (2016-10-28)
Latest release4.0.0 / 1 September 2020; 3 years ago (2020-09-01) [1]
Code repositorygithub.com/zcash/zcash
Development statusActive
Project fork ofBitcoin Core
Written inC++ and Rust (zcashd), Python (zcashd test suite), Rust (zebra), Kotlin (Android SDK), Swift (iOS SDK), Go (lightwalletd)
Operating systemLinux, Windows, macOS
Developer(s)Electric Coin Company (zcashd), Zcash Foundation (zebra)
Source modelOpen source
LicenseMIT (main zcashd code); MIT/Apache (zebra and some support libraries)
Ledger
Hash functionEquihash
Issuance scheduleSimilar to Bitcoin, with "slow start" and different block interval
Block reward6.25 ZEC (5 ZEC to miners; 1.25 Founders' Reward), from Blossom upgrade until first halving [2]
Block time75 seconds (post-Blossom upgrade) [2]
Block explorerexplorer.zcha.in
Circulating supply10,028,406 [3]
Supply limit21,000,000 [2]
Website
Websitez.cash

Zcash is a cryptocurrency aimed at using cryptography to provide enhanced privacy for its users compared to other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Zcash is based on Bitcoin's codebase.[4] It shares many similarities such as a fixed total supply of 21 million units.[5]

Transactions can be "transparent" and similar to bitcoin transactions in which case they are controlled by a t-addr, or can be a type of zero-knowledge proof called zk-SNARKs; the transactions are then said to be "shielded" and are controlled by a z-addr. Zcash coins are either in a transparent pool or a shielded pool; as of December 2017 only around 4% of Zcash coins were in the shielded pool and at that time most cryptocurrency wallet programs did not support z-addrs and no web-based wallets supported them.[6] The shielded pool of Zcash coins were further analyzed for security and it was found that the anonymity set can be shrunk considerably by heuristics-based identifiable patterns of usage.[7]

Zcash affords private transactors the option of "selective disclosure", allowing a user to prove payment for auditing purposes. One such reason is to allow private transactors the choice to comply with anti-money laundering or tax regulations. "Transactions are auditable but disclosure is under the participant's control."[8] The company has hosted virtual meetings with law enforcement agencies around the U.S. to explain these fundamentals and has gone on the record of saying that "they did not develop the currency to facilitate illegal activity".[5]

On March 1, 2018, an employee named Ariel Gabizon discovered a critical bug which could have allowed an attacker to create an infinite amount of counterfeit ZCash.[9][10] Gabizon shared this discovery with only three other employees, including Zooko Wilcox, the company's CEO.[9][10] On October 28, 2018, the fix for this issue was covertly included in the Sapling network upgrade to the Zcash network.[9][10]

On May 19, 2020, a paper titled "Alt-Coin Traceability"[11] investigated the privacy of both Zcash and Monero. This paper concluded that "more academic research is needed in Zcash overall" and that the privacy guarantees of ZCash are "questionable". The paper claimed that since the current heuristics from a 2018 Usenix Security Symposium paper entitled "An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in Zcash"[7] still continue today that the result is making ZCash less anonymous and more traceable.

On June 8, 2020, Chainalysis added support for ZCash to their Chainalysis Reactor and "Know Your Transaction" (KYT) technologies.[12] This permits Chainalysis to trace and provide transaction values and at least the sender or receiver address for over 99% of ZCash activity.[12] Chainalysis explains that it is able to accomplish this since most ZCash users do not use privacy-enhancing features.[12] Chainalysis also cites a research paper by the RAND corporation[13] which revealed that less than 0.2% of the cryptocurrency addresses on the dark web were ZCash addresses.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Releases - zcash/zcash". Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via GitHub.
  2. ^ a b c "Frequently Asked Questions - Zcash". Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Zchain - Zcash Blockchain Explorer & API". Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. ^ "The Basics | Zcash". Zcash. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b Popper, Nathaniel (31 October 2016). "Zcash, a Harder-to-Trace Virtual Currency, Generates Price Frenzy". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Quesnelle, Jeffrey (2017). "On the linkability of Zcash transactions". arXiv:1712.01210 [cs.CR].
  7. ^ a b Kappos, George; Yousaf, Haaroon; Maller, Mary; Meiklejohn, Sarah (2018). "An Empirical Analysis of Anonymity in Zcash": 463–477. ISBN 978-1-939133-04-5. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Clozel, Lalita (31 October 2016). "How Zcash Tries to Balance Privacy, Transparency in Blockchain". American Banker.
  9. ^ a b c "Zcash Counterfeiting Vulnerability Successfully Remediated". Electric Coin Company. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "Critical Zcash Bug Could Have Allowed 'Infinite Counterfeit' Cryptocurrency". The Hacker News. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  11. ^ Ye, Claire; Ojukwu, Chinedu; Hsu, Anthony; Hu, Ruiqi (2020). "Alt-Coin Traceability". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d "Introducing Investigation and Compliance Support for Dash and Zcash". blog.chainalysis.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  13. ^ Silfversten, Erik; Favaro, Marina; Slapakova, Linda; Ishikawa, Sascha; Liu, James; Salas, Adrian (6 May 2020). "Exploring the use of Zcash cryptocurrency for illicit or criminal purposes". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)


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