Review on Zcash by Johanna Eisenhower

Name: Zcash
Item: Zcash
Rating: 5

August 30, 2018

The main purpose of ZCash is to allow people to send and receive funds quickly…

The main purpose of ZCash is to allow people to send and receive funds quickly, cheaply and most importantly — privately. In fact, the ZCash team hope that one day it will become a global payments system used by people all around the world. I like that
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Pros

Zcash is pioneering the use of zero-knowledge proofs, applying cutting-edge cryptography to blockchain technology. Zero-knowledge proofs allow fully encrypted transactions to be confirmed as valid. This new property will enable entire new classes of blockchain applications to be built.

Cons

To put it simply, this master private key, which has been referred to as “toxic waste” by ZCash founder and CEO Zooko Wilcox, is a crucial key that is needed for the anonymizing mixer within the ZCash network to operate properly. If this key is leaked outside of this small group however, the owner of they key will be able to produce an unlimited amount of ZCash. Such unusual generation of ZCash could potentially break the network.