We often see new cryptocurrencies being created due to hard forking an existing project. One of the latest projects to do so goes by the name of ZenCash, a privacy-centric coin which is directly hard-forked from ZClassic, which is a fork from ZCash. Now would be a good time to compare all three cryptocurrencies and see how they are different from one another.
3. ZenCash
Although ZenCash was only recently introduced to the world, the token has gotten quite a lot of attention already. ZenCash focuses on privacy, and represents an “evolved form of ZK-SNARK technology.” It is a direct hard fork from ZClassic, a currency we will discuss in the next paragraph. One feature that makes ZenCash attractive to people is how it offers a protected communication protocol known as ZenTalk. Users can exchange short messages through this network, all of which is powered by blockchain technology.
ZenCash has a maximum coin supply of 21 million, which is the same as Bitcoin. The governance of this project will be done through a Decentralized Autonomous Organization structure, which is funded by a portion of mining rewards. The DAO will also fund future developments and look for additional partnerships. People interested in a more technical explanation of ZenCash can check out the whitepaper here.
2. ZClassic
The ZClassic currency – listed as ZCL on exchanges – is a fork of ZCash. The goal of ZClassic is to remove the 20% fee associated with the ZCash technology. The developers of this fork feel miners should not receive smaller rewards just because the developers need additional money to keep evolving the project. Instead, ZClassic issues the full block reward to miners and aims to have development funded by the community itself.
Moreover, Zclassic was designed in such a way there is no deliberate scarcity. That is quite different from ZCash, which seems to thrive on issuing fewer coins during the early stages of the ecosystem being embraced by enthusiasts. ZClassic is the first major fork of ZCash, although it is unclear if other forks may make an impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem over the coming months. There will be 21 million ZClassic coins.
1. ZCash
Most cryptocurrency users have heard about ZCash before. This particular cryptocurrency is well known for a strong focus on privacy, while still allowing for specific transactions to be completely transparent. There is a fixed supply of 21 million coins, similar to Bitcoin. However, the number of coins is distributed at a much slower rate from the start, which creates artificial scarcity. Moreover, it appears 20% of the block reward will automatically be deducted for future development of the protocol.
The main reason people are attracted to ZCash is because of their use of zk-SNARKS to protect the amount and recipient of transactions. It did not take all that long for ZCash to become one of the top-twenty cryptocurrencies. It is also worth mentioning ZCash was initially called Zerocash, but the name was changed later on. Make sure to check out the official Zerocash whitepaper, as it contains a lot of technical information regarding this project.
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