What is Zcash (ZEC)? A beginner’s guide in 360 words.

2426

The basic architecture of all cryptocurrencies is the same.  They’re open source with the code available to anyone who wishes to inspect or replicate them.  However, altcoins are not all the same.  As new technologies are vetted, new problems arise and must be overcome.

Enter Zcash which was introduced on October 28, 2016. Zcash aims to solve one of the main issues with Bitcoin: True anonymity.

Part of the popularity of Bitcoin rests on its ability to be anonymous. However, every transaction can still be tracked by law enforcement or government agencies using sophisticated data analysis. This means that if someone wants to track down exactly where and how a transaction has gone down,  all you have to do is trace it through the public blockchain.

The blockchain ledger contains three portions of information: the sender, the recipient, and the amount that was sent. Since this information is public, you are potentially exposing your transaction histories to more and more people every time you make more transactions. This is exactly how the infamous Silk Road was taken down.

Other problems inherent with Bitcoin include the inability to scale-up due to the nature of its very technology. This has placed limitations on how Bitcoin matures and why transactions can sometimes take an hour or even longer.

With these limitations in mind, a team of cryptographers working at MIT created a solution that would allow transactions to be confirmed in the blockchain without anyone recording where these transactions came from, who made them, or what they purchased.

Zcash uses the same base technology as other cryptocurrencies but adds a level of encryption that Bitcoin lacks.

In fact, Zcash is considered so secure in its anonymity that Eric Snowden has referred to it as the one coin that can solve Bitcoins surveillance risks.


Zcash is considered so secure, that JP Morgan has signed a deal with the Zcash organization to develop technology for their own blockchain systems. This is ideal for industries where transactions must be secure such as the medical field and stock trading.

Zcash has a fixed total supply of 21 million units. You can choose to keep your transactions open or turn on the encryption known as zero-knowledge proof. Once you turn on this encryption, the transactions will then be completely anonymous, while still having the ability to be verified on the blockchain.

How can you buy Zcash?

You first need to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum on Coinbase and then transfer it over to your account at Binance to exchange it for ZEC. If you get stuck or need help, send us a message through our Facebook page or use our contact page and someone on staff will walk you through the process.