ZEC Price

Zcash (ZEC) is a digital currency focused on privacy, letting users conduct low-cost and high-speed transactions online while maintaining the confidentiality of transaction data. Zcash users can selectively share details about their transactions for audit or regulatory compliance purposes.

The Zcash blockchain emerged as a code fork from the Bitcoin protocol. It is based on the Zerocash protocol, a peer-reviewed project published during the 2014 IEEE Security & Privacy conference.

Zcash is a highly effective cryptocurrency designed primarily for making mobile payments. It is one of the most effective cryptocurrencies with mainstream applications and offers a viable alternative to conventional payment options, such as cash, debit cards, or credit cards.

Calling itself the ‘HTTPS of blockchains,’ Zcash’s developers have built the public blockchain to maintain users’ confidentiality while allowing them to use crypto as a legitimate payment option for not only money transfer and online shopping but also offline shopping. It is the first project in the blockchain sector to utilize zk-SNARKs, zero-knowledge cryptography, to offer the highest levels of privacy through optional anonymity for users transacting on the network.

ZEC is the native currency token of the Zcash network, used for making private transactions and paying transaction fees. It can also be mined during the consensus process of validating transactions and creating new blocks.

The Zcash network leverages zk-SNARKs or zero-knowledge proofs to establish privacy on the blockchain. zk-SNARK proofs shield transaction amount and sender details from network participants while abiding by the blockchain network’s consensus protocol.

zk-SNARK technology makes it possible for the Zcash blockchain to conduct transparent transactions, letting participants prove possession of information without divulging the data. Consensus in such a network requires no interaction between the prover and the verifier of the transaction, ensuring users’ privacy.

Additional security features of the Zcash network include an encrypted memo field for shielded transactions so that only the sender and receiver can access the content. Owners of shielded addresses also have the power to share transaction details with auditors or regulators.

Senders or receivers of each transaction can disclose specific details related to the transaction to third parties, including transaction values and memos. The transaction expiration feature also reduces the impact of a non-mined transaction within the network, with Zcash setting an expiration for the transaction if it is not mined within 50 minutes or 40 blocks.

The Zcash blockchain also offers meager transaction fees of 0.0001 ZEC per transaction. Multisig transactions also improve the efficacy of the overall network for supporting payments.

Zcash was initially proposed as Zerocoin in 2013 as an experimental idea to enhance the privacy of Bitcoin with the help of advanced mathematical techniques called “zero-knowledge proofs.” Suggested by scientists at John Hopkins, the idea received a further push via collaboration with MIT and Tel Aviv University researchers a few years later.

The collaboration created a protocol called “Zerocash,” or Zcash, in 2016. Zooko Wilcox took over as CEO of the Zcash Company - the firm behind the development of the protocol and helped raise more than $3 million from venture capitalists to take the project forward.

The Zcash Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on developing the Zcash network and fostering its adoption, was established in 2017. The Zcash Company changed its name to Electric Coin Company in 2019.

Since then, Zcash has continued to grow in terms of adoption. It consistently ranks among the top 15 crypto assets based on its 24-hour transaction volume, per data on Messari.

The ZEC crypto has several use cases, some of which are listed below:

Medium of Exchange

Zcash can be used to make payments across over 39,000 retail stores, coffee shops, nonprofit organizations, and movie theaters to purchase goods and services. It offers a practical, low-cost, and fast payment method in crypto.

Pay Transaction Fees

The ZEC token is the native digital asset of the Zcash blockchain. Users utilizing the Zcash network to make payments must pay transaction fees in ZEC at 0.0001 ZEC per transaction.

Crypto Asset to Trade and HODL

ZEC is among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap and is a popular crypto asset for investors to trade. It enjoys high liquidity and trading volume on leading exchanges where it is listed.

You can buy or sell Zcash against other cryptocurrencies or hold it in the long term if you believe in the potential of the project. Ensure you review the Zcash price today, ZEC market cap, circulating supply, 24-hour trading volume, and the latest crypto news before you trade ZEC.

Earn Passive Income

Holding ZEC is a great way to generate a stream of passive income. Head to the KuCoin Crypto Lending section and lend liquidity for ZEC to the exchange. You will receive rewards in the form of daily interest on the liquidity you lend, offering you a safe and risk-free way to grow your crypto portfolio.

Mine ZEC

Zcash utilizes a proof of work consensus mechanism and lets you mine ZEC while contributing to validating transactions. As a ZEC miner, you can verify transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain, earning a percentage of ZEC mined in the process as a reward for your efforts.