cash is drawing a lot of attention with its cutting-edge technology and dramatic rise in price. Its protocol allows for extremely private transactions – something much more difficult with the Bitcoin protocol. Since its introduction in October 2016, the Zcash market cap has soared to over half a billion US dollars – bringing it to the top 20 cryptocurrencies that are worth investing in. Now, the major exchanges like CEX.IO are getting interested.
CEX.IO is careful about which cryptocurrencies it launches for trading on its platform. Zcash (ZEC) is now the fifth coin to be listed on CEX.IO, alongside Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Dash (DASH). This shows its confidence in the unique Zcash technology and the team behind it.
Zcash: A Privacy-Focused Coin
Zcash aims to improve upon the privacy of Bitcoin. It is based on the Zerocash protocol – a fork from the original Bitcoin protocol. On the Zcash website, they claim “If Bitcoin is like http for money, Zcash is https—a secure transport layer”.
Right now, transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain can be traced all the way back to when they were first mined. This can lead to a couple of problems. Firstly, if anyone can find out or infer your public Bitcoin address, they can see where you are spending your Bitcoins. Obviously, this isn’t ideal for anyone wanting to keep their spending private. Another problem is that this means that Bitcoins are not Fungible – they can be distinguished from each other.
Zcash – Not for Shady Deals
Zcash coins are completely unlinked to any transaction history, and there is no way to tell each one from any other. It turns out it’s not just privacy-focused individuals that are keen to use this feature – financial institutions are too. Banks like JP Morgan Chase are interested in trading with Zcash, as having their trading activity available to competitors has been a major obstacle slowing Bitcoin adoption by large financial institutions. The ability to conduct completely private transactions on the Zcash blockchain could open up the market for all kinds of new financial applications.
The team behind Zcash is well respected, and it is one of the only current cryptocurrencies created by professional cryptographers. It also has the backing of some big names in the cryptocurrency world including Gavin Andresen and Vitalik Buterin. Edward Snowden describes it as “the most interesting Bitcoin alternative”.
Zcash – Possible Downsides
As with all cryptocurrencies, every design choice is a compromise. One of the big ones with Zcash is that it is backed and controlled by a small group. To raise its original capital, a large part of future mining gains will go to the backers as rewards, rather than miners. Design decisions and protocol changes are also largely controlled by this group.
Another problem lies with the protocol. In order to make Zcash coins indistinguishable, a master private key was placed in the hands of six trusted individuals, who then destroyed it. In theory, if it wasn’t actually destroyed, this master key could be used to create new, counterfeit Zcash coins completely undetectable on the network. This requires a lot of trust in that small group, which for many goes against what cryptocurrencies represent.
Clearly, from the sheer number of investors buying Zcash, many don’t consider these to be big problems. Some even see certain level of centralization as necessary for an altcoin like Zcash to operate efficiently.
Zcash on CEX.IO
Now cryptocurrency enthusiasts have one more venue for trading Zcash – CEX.IO! On the 2nd October, 2017, the major cryptocurrency exchange added Zcash to the platform. Currently, the users are provided with the following pairs for trading:
- ZEC/USD
- ZEC/EUR
- ZEC/GBP
- ZEC/BTC
It will be available through the quick and easy Buy/Sell service soon, whereas the margin trading option could also be a possibility if there is enough demand for it from the CEX.IO community.
Signing up for a CEX.IO account is easy. You’ll need to verify a payment method to buy with credit card, but once you’re setup you can trade Zcash and other cryptocurrencies with just a few clicks.
Vote for What’s Next
CEX.IO takes the introduction of new altcoins seriously. The new ones are chosen based on a combination of technical merits and community support demonstrated through the CEX.IO user requests. Vote for your favorite altcoin to be added next by going to this page on the CEX.IO website.
Start Using Zcash on CEX.IO
The exciting new, privacy-focused technology behind Zcash is opening up new opportunities for blockchain. Private and encrypted transactions are now possible which has opened the door to a new class of financial applications that need those characteristics. Zcash has a promising future. The success of Zcash marks another milestone on the rise of cryptocurrencies, and now is the perfect time to get started trading Zcash, Bitcoin, and other altcoins.