ZenCash: Everything that You Wanted to Know

What have you read about ZenCash?

1. ZenCash - not just a cryptocurrency but a privacy focused platform
2. Secure Nodes - Encrypted communication between nodes
3. How to benefit from ZenCash?
4. How to buy ZenCash?
5. ZenCash wallets
6. ZEN and EUR - What is the ZenCash exchange rate and price?
7. Conclusion: Why invest in ZenCash?

ZenCash - not only a cryptocurrency but a privacy focused platform

The leading feature of ZenCash is its emphasis on so-called privacy or the rights to privacy. With it, there is the opportunity to implement not only transparent transactions (such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ethereum), but also to perform hidden transactions. This technology, called zk-SNARK, comes from the Zcash project, from which ZenCash has also been divided. Zk-SNARK is an algorithm that allows you to create hidden transactions when a blockchain can validate transactions as being valid without being able to find out who is the sender, who is the recipient, and how much was sent.

ZenCash is not just a cryptocurrency that allows for public or hidden transactions. The team behind ZenCash had a clear vision right from the start of the project: to create an open and expandable private platform built on blockchain technology to build a complex system that goes beyond transactions.

ZenCash has yet to implement the ZenTalk feature, a secure and encrypted way to communicate with people in a 1:1 or 1:many basis. What's interesting about it when there are systems like Whatsapp or Signal? It's all about anonymity. To be able to use Whatsapp or Signal, one of the important assumptions is the existence of a telephone number, through which you have to register.

While in some democratic states you still have the chance to buy prepaid phone cards anonymously, this possibility is decreasing. For informers and sensitive data (journalists, advocates of minorities, anti-corruption fighters, etc.), however, anonymous communications are highly desirable to prevent state organizations or criminal groups from monitoring your calls. The use of such technology may not only serve users living in a democracy but can also be extended to parts of the world where authoritarian regimes exist. In this case, ZenTalk is even more important.

However, some countries (such as the People's Republic of China) are known for their strict and comprehensive monitoring and censorship of internet traffic, which may pose a problem in using this form of communication. The ZenCash project team addresses this issue and has decided to implement the "Domain Fronting" feature. This is a method that allows the ZenCash blockchain to be disrupted to appear as a regular network traffic through http and port 80. This is a normal communication gateway for unencrypted traffic on websites, and the activity then appears to be anonymous from the point of view of a censoring authority. Best of all, ZenCash traffic is encrypted across TLS, and the deployment of Secure Nodes further strengthens the overall network infrastructure and provides more anonymity and security for the entire blockchain.

iJane Lippencott for Alza
"Zen's mission is to provide the necessary empowering infrastructure and supporting community for individuals to reclaim their personal privacy and security. In 3-5 years we hope to have contributed to a global paridigm shift where individuals demand control over their footprints and identities in the digital world. This shift can only occur through awareness and use of the tools that Zen is developing, which is why we're focused on both intensive R&D activities to offer best-in-class privacy and reliability to users, and building a thriving global community!"

Jane Lippencott

Jane Lippencott is a co-founder of Zen. She was born in America and grew up in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and New York to gain a unique view that includes the values ​​of both Western and Eastern cultures. This life experience is reflected in her worldviews, which particularly emphasise freedom of opinion, the right to privacy and decentralisation in general.

Secure Nodes - Encrypted communication between nodes

ZenCash, as well as all of the currency-based blockchains, uses so-called full nodes, which are nodes (computers/servers) that have complete copies of the blockchain. However, ZenCash communicates between these nodes in an encrypted manner and therefore we are talking about Security Nodes.

In most cryptocurrencies, the operation of these full nodes is voluntary and non-rewarding. ZenCash has a reward system that is paid to these Security Nodes operators after several conditions are met - ownership of at least 42 ZenCash, a TLS certificate, at least 92% availability, etc. This system allows Security Nodes to acquire additional ZenCash through the operation of these full nodes. Thanks to them, the network becomes more distributed and resilient, for example, to national governments' attempts to ban/regulate the currency in question. More than 5700 of these full copies of the ZenCash blockchain are currently in use.

Secure Nodes in Europe

It is great that we are participating in the decentralisation of the internet as a continent. Even in the Secure Node list, you will find quite a few Secure Nodes running on the .cz domain for example. This, of course, does not mean that it is the final count, many local domain operators may not be using a .cz ending.

Our overclocker Michal Mikle also has one

Michal told us that he also joined the Secure Node operators, so we asked him what was behind his decision and what ZenCash actually meant.

i After probing deeper and reading more research around the ZenCash project, I got a growing impression that ZEN is one of the cryptos which will survive through the speed of thousands of projects and altcoins and as it can actually do something. Personally, I mine Zen through a DSTM miner with SMOS (Simplemining.net). There are basically two ways to handle coins in the cryptocurrency arena. Trading and so-called HODL (the emergence of this expression can be found on the Bitcointalk forum). When you hold all of your coins and wait for them to rise in value, you are basically lazy. The trick and joke is that you do not have to lie down at ZEN, but you can hold them while using them for Secure Node operations. And for this you'll get another ZEN coin, per month.The effectiveness of the investment is just in a completely different place than most currencies. In addition, if you are a bit concerned about Input-Output Honk Kong (IOHK.io), what is Cardano (ADA), who is behind these things, how these projects have structure and what the Leaders have behind your back, and you know put 1 + 1 together, it will happen that ZEN will be one of the cryptos that will change something. For all I mentioned, one name still appears. Charles Hoskinson. Charles is the man who helped Vitalik Buterin to launch Ethereum. Without him, Ethereum would never have taken off. He is a very talented academic, mathematician, theoretical analyst and cryptographer and currently the IOHK CEO. Cardano is one of the projects on which IOHK participates and has the largest codebase on GitHub and is very academic. How does ZenCash fit into it?



One of the strong foundations is that ZenCash and IOHK have made a partnership to implement the new generation DAO (Distributed Autonomous Company) . And what does it mean? DAO is a system, a decentralized approach to corporate governance that is spread all over the world. Members of the company (the owners of ZenCash crypts) will then be able to freely decide what direction the whole development will take. Another of the many things I like about ZenCash is that the project did not go out primarily via the TOR network. He has chosen proven methods such as end-to-end encryption, ie, using encrypted communications using SSL and TLS certificates. Just something we know works and works well. For many other crypto projects, I think that the "integration" of TOR is more of a marketing tuxedo. Nowadays, and especially if you're new, you'll learn about countless Bitcoin-killers, Bitcoins 2.0, 3.0, and so on. Personally, I view ZenCash as one of the best anonymous projects and cryptoscopes that offer real privacy to humanity, be it payments or communication on the Internet.

Michal Mikle

I'm an overclocker and enthusiast Bitcoiner. With computer hardware, any unused performance won't keep me calm. If there is the possibility of squeezing another drop of power from the hardware, I won't miss it. I love the adrenaline and pushing the limits, of the components and myself. This activity is rich with choices, but I mainly use liquid nitrogen and phase-change methods. I also set up a service to optimise Intel processors, delid.cz, building custom PC setups on demand and I enjoy security and privacy topics. Outside the digital world I'm interested in permaculture and other low time preference systems.

How to benefit from ZenCash?

ZenCash uses the equihash kernel algorithm (like Zcash) that is resistant to the use of ASIC dedicated mining devices. ZEN mining requires the use of premium and powerful graphics cards such as the NVIDIA 1080 Ti. The system requires at least 4 GB of memory to create one hidden transaction, which will not be a problem in today's world. As with the vast majority of algorithms that are designed to work with a GPU, it is unnecessary to focus on processor mining. The power delivered by the strongest processor, such as Intel's i9-7960X , is so weak that mining is not efficient, but in fact is causing you to lose money. Therefore, for mining companies who want to exploit the system and who use ZenCash (mining rig) will use a cheap processor, 4GB of RAM memory, and conversely, it is necessary to use appropriate and high-performance NVIDIA Pascal graphics architecture.

ZenCash can be exploited through various types of mining software. For example, the author of this article uses the EWBF with the NVIDIA and Claymore cards from AMD. There are, however, other variants, such as DSTM. For mining rig operators who already have more powerful systems, it is worthwhile to use a dedicated solution such as Ethos or SMOS, etc. As for mining solo against the mining pool, we definitely recommend joining a mining pool as the chance of finding at least one block in a solo mining pool with a small hash rate of one-rig mining is very small. At present, it would take a matter of weeks.

ZEN Mining with Simplemining.net

Before you start setting up ZEN mining, you should be familiar with Michal Mikle's tutorial to help you do it correctly.

With the NVIDIA Pascal architecture cards, which are the most efficient for the equihash mining algorithm, I recommend using the DSTM miner, which is about 10% more powerful than EWBF. You can select your mining pool from the list at the official ZenCash project site.

You must register for the zen.suprnova.cc mining pool and you must create a so-called Workers for Simple Mining on the My Account tab and then My Workers to refer to the configuration in the RigGroups group. The config then looks like this:

" --server zen.suprnova.cc --port 3618 --user Elkim.NVA --pass X "

The server and the port are clear. --user is then created by combining your login into the pool and the name of the worker. --pass is a password for the connection to the pool, but it is not a secret, but rather a purely technical matter for logging the mining rig into the pool.

The best way to verify the accuracy of mining with Simplemining.net is by us to control SSH over any SSH connection application.

Whether everything works (or generates) properly, you can verify it either in the Simplemining.net administration on the RigList tab or directly using a monitor connected to the mining rig. The next, and dare to say the best option, is to check SSH over any SSH connection application. Michal Mikle uses MobaXterm for example. SMOS is logged in by default using the username "miner" and password: "miner". Using the "screen -x miner" command, you can get to the main mining screen to see the real-time mining/hashing results.

As shown in the picture above, one overclocked GTX 1060 gives approximately 350 Sol/s (350h/s). These are values ​​that you can count on what's known Whattomine.com. They answer all of the most frequently asked questions such as: What to get, what to do, and what is the return?

How to Buy ZenCash?

ZenCash can only be purchased at the Crypt Exchange, but it can also be bought through some internet vendors. The following list is up-to-date as of January 12, 2018:

• Purchase on Bittrex
• Purchase on OKEX
• Purchase on Evercoin (anonymous instant exchange, ShapeShift-like)
• Purchase on Coss
• Purchase on Cryptopia
• Buying on Bisq (Peer-to-peer exchange Decentralized over TOR)
• Purchase on UPBit
• Integration with coinpayments.net and cointopay.com (payment gateways for Internet vendors)

ZenCash Wallets

ZenCash can be stored in different wallets, both on your computer and on your mobile device, or you can print a paper wallet. The official wallet for desktops is called Arizen. European readers will appreciate that the whole team involved in the development of Arizen comes from the Czech Republic. Another official wallet for mobile devices is called the ZenCash Mobile Wallet. It's currently only available for Android. An iOS version also exists, it's just waiting to be published on the App Store. The well-known wallet for multi-cryptomena, the wallet Coinomi, is also available only for Android, but it supports ZenCash. The last option is the unofficial Zencash Swing Wallet UI wallet. It has been available from the beginning of the project.

i Lukáš Bureš for Alza
"ZenCash is not just another cryptocurrency, it's a platform for private communications, payments, and data sharing and Internet access in the future. This whole system underlines the need to be able to use services that guarantee absolute anonymity and privacy when you need it, and in a distributed form without an intermediary commercial subject.The areas of ​​cryptomania and blockchain will focus on privacy more in 2018 and in the near future than at present.In this moment, ZenCash will be one of the projects that will indicate the direction of cryptocurrency development. "

Lukáš Bureš

Lukáš Bureš is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Cybernetics at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he teaches Computer Vision Methods. He is actively interested in cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, data mining, and machine learning. He is also fully oriented in a number of programming languages ​​and development libraries. He is a Team Leader Developer of ZenCash.

And what about hardware? Currently, integration with the Ledger Nano S is in progress and is in the debugging phase. As for wallets, Treasurer from the world-famous Satoshi Labs in Prague, integration with the original Treasure model will not occur, but we can expect to integrate Arizen wallet with the new Trezor T model. It could be available from February 2018.

ZEN and EUR - What is the ZenCash rate and price?

The common feature of all current cryptocurrencies is undoubtedly their extreme volatility. This is often the case with ZenCash, where we can experience sharp fluctuations in the course of a day, with the exception that there is no drop or increase of ten percent or more in a single week or even day. In the picture below, you'll find a detailed interactive chart for the current rate, as well as a ZenCash (ZEN) overview for the last month.

Conclusion: Why invest in ZenCash?

There are several reasons to invest in ZenCash. Above all, it is a project that is active, has a clearly defined long-term vision in the form of a roadmap and is distributed around the world. At the same time, it has repeatedly demonstrated that it is able to meet deadlines in terms of delivering new features. Opponents of the project say they can not see ZenCash as investible, as it is a fork of Zcash. Here is a very important point about of the differences between ZenCash and Zcash because it is not a fork of a fork.

ZenCash is a distributed, friendly community that, for the time being, uses the same technology and algorithms as Zcash, but for a totally different purpose. (The Zcash Project is the The Zerocoin Company, which focuses on research and development in the field of block and cryptography, which accounts for 20% of all mining rewards in the Zcash scheme). With the creation of a specific usein the future, ZenCash will focus on anonymous content sharing and access to the Internet.

Massimiliano (Max) Mortillaro

Massimiliano (Max) Mortillaro is an independent data center consultant specialising in virtualisation and data storage technology. In addition to providing services to corporate customers, he is also co-organizer of an independent IT conference, TECHunplugged. He is also a passionate advocate of online security, privacy, encryption and digital rights.