Zcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency. Zcoin’s crypto coin is called ‘XZC.’ In order to provide anonymous transactions, the platform makes use of the zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs. This platform is ASIC resistant. It basically means that when any CPU friendly MTP mining algorithm is used to crack its original Lyra2z algorithm when the ASIC rigs were developed.
How did the Zerocoin take birth? Well, it was initially a part of a research paper that was about anonymity-enhancing transactions for Bitcoin. Vertcoin (VTC) got inspired by the revolutionary potential of this research and thus adopted it. The founder of the company- Poramin Insom, therefore, created Zcoin.
In the blockchain industry, privacy and anonymity are considered as important aspects. They are considered so important that a separate category called- ‘privacy category’ has been created around it which is called- ‘Privacy Coins.’ Under this category crypto coins such as Zcoin, Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XRP), and Pivx (PIV) can be quoted. Although, all these coins uses separate privacy and anonymity protocols all of them shoot for the same aim.
The key to the privacy and anonymity protocols is in the use of advanced cryptography features, pass- thrus, and the use of pseudonyms. This allows these coins to generate mathematical obstacles for modern computers to crack into. Quantum computing is an exception as it can crack these mathematical obstacles. Anonymity here must not be confused with the dubious activities. They are very much legal. Even normal US Dollar cash along with the serial numbers is generally difficult to trace. Making the security tighter, the privacy in these crypto coins is on purpose tuned off, and additionally, they have to pass through the regulated environments of crypto exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase and so on.
The quality of security is dependent on the strength of mathematical protection. For instance, Zcoin uses RSA encryption which is usually strong enough, but not so strong enough, when it is compared to quantum computing. The crypto companies along with Zcoin all over the world are brainstorming to pump up the anonymity in order to increase the privacy quotient. The lack of security can put blockchain security as a whole at risk and also will have an impact on the current encryption system.
The self-claimed crypto coins such as Qtum (QTUM) and HyperCash (HC) vouch for the immunity against quantum computing. But if we look at the Zcoin’s security preparations, the usage of RSA encryption leaves it in a vulnerable area. The company is working on improving the security though.
Zcoin XZC cryptocurrency’s performance-
Moving on to the market performance of Zcoin’s XZC, on 6th Feb, this year, the crypto-coin XZC had a total supply of 21,400,000 XZC. Out of this, the number of tokens that were circulating in the market was 6,736,013 XZC. The crypto coin saw its all-time high back in the year 2017, on 25th Dec with 141.19 U.S Dollars.
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We first saw the crypto-coin back in the year 2016 in September. During this time the genesis block was built. The Founder’s Reward will occupy 14 percent of the XZC that will be mined in the year 2020. Out of this, around forty-three percent each goes to the team of Zcoin and the investors of the company. The remainder of fourteen percent is dedicated to the founder of the company- Poramin Insom.
With the help of RSA cryptographic key XZC coins are spent and destroyed. This is done in order to build the newly minted coins called- Zerocoins. The cost of doing so is 0.01 XZC. In the transactions, Zerocoins are used, whereas the Zcoin is attached to the transactions. As a safety suggestion, it is always advised that one should not spend the exact amount of Zerocoins. Another advice that goes around is that one should wait at least 60 min before one starts to spend them.
Proof-of-Work MTP mining algorithm is used in order to mine the Zcoin’s XZC coin. The Proof-of-Work MTP mining algorithm works in perfect synch with the CPU. It is ASIC resistant. One can mine the XZC coins with the help of computers present at home too. Another way of mining Zcoin’s XZC coin is with through the mining pool.
It takes around five minutes for the block processing time. During this process, one can mine around twenty-five coins per block. Until the complete supply gets minted, this reward gets divided into halves during the set times.
You can find Zcoin’s XZC coin on a variety of crypto exchanges. Some examples are CHAOEX, Binance, Bittrex, and Huobi Global. If we look at the daily trade, then more than 400,000 U.S Dollars worth of XZC coins get traded. One would find that usually these coins are paired with BTC, XRP, ETH, and fiat currencies like USD and EUR. You can also store these coins in the Zcoin wallets offered by the company itself. These wallets are compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android smartphones. Another wallet on which it can be stored in is the multi-currency wallet of Coinomi or Ledger or Trezor that are hardware wallets.
Interesting facts about Zcoin’s XZC-
One can draw parallel definitions between Zcoin’s XZC and famous cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) or Litecoin LTC. Individual nodes called Znodes that make the decentralized network run the process. The individual node can process a complete copy of the Zcoin blockchain. As a result, it gives out new transactions that have a mixed share of minted XZC, rough with a thirty percent share.
In order to process a Znode one would require at least 1000 XZC. This makes the Znode operators to constantly run the network with the stake of 1000 XZC pulling the network forward. As per cryptobriefing.com, the foundation is strictly against ASIC mining. The reason is that these machines involve high power, which in return can make the network centralized. This can further make the network vulnerable by fifty-one percent attack. As an example, last year, in the fourth quarter, Insom’s Verticoin felt prey to the fifty-one percent attack.
Zcoin uses the MTP algorithm which is highly memory intensive. This makes the ASIC rigs to become GPU heavy, which leads to extremely slow completion. The speed drops to the point that it can be compared to home computer taking up the process. This issue can be addressed by introducing more CPU cores, or by enhancing the GPU memory capacity. But doing so is an expensive affair.
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Although it poses vulnerabilities to the blockchain structure, the company is decisive on using the RSA cryptography in order to keep its users’ transactions safe constantly.
Just like the single key passwords, SHA and AES are also of symmetric encryption. It is used to interpret the encryption. On the other hand, RSA is asymmetric. This makes them encrypted with the public key, but in order to decrypt them, a private key is required. A 617 digits long cryptographic key is used by the RSA 2048. This makes it 2048 bits long. This naturally makes recovering the original prime key almost impossible. Besides quantum computing, cracking these keys is not possible that easily, thus it makes the Zcoin highly safe for use.
Zcoin XZC’s important features in a zest-
- Zcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency. It was initially a part of a research paper that was about anonymity-enhancing transactions for Bitcoin. Vertcoin (VTC) got inspired by the revolutionary potential of this research and thus adopted it. The founder of the company- Poramin Insom, therefore, created Zcoin.
- With the help of RSA cryptographic key XZC coins are spent and destroyed. This is done in order to build the newly minted coins called- Zerocoins. The cost of doing so is 0.01 XZC. In the transactions, Zerocoins are used, whereas the Zcoin is attached to the transactions.
- Proof-of-Work MTP mining algorithm is used in order to mine the Zcoin’s XZC coin. The Proof-of-Work MTP mining algorithm works in perfect synch with the CPU. It is ASIC resistant. One can mine the XZC coins with the help of computers present at home too. Another way of mining Zcoin’s XZC coin is with through the mining pool.
- Zcoin uses RSA cryptography in order to keep its users’ transactions safe constantly.
- The fact that the RSA is asymmetric makes them encrypted with a public key, but in order to decrypt them, a private key is required. A 617 digits long cryptographic key is used by the RSA 2048. This makes it 2048 bits long. This naturally makes recovering the original prime key almost impossible.
- You can find Zcoin’s XZC coin on a variety of crypto exchanges. Some examples are CHAOEX, Binance, Bittrex, and Huobi Global.
- Some examples are CHAOEX, Binance, Bittrex, and Huobi Global.
- If we look at the daily trade, then more than 400,000 U.S Dollars worth of XZC coins get traded.
- One would find that usually these coins are paired with BTC, XRP, ETH, and fiat currencies like USD and EUR.
- You can also store these coins in the Zcoin wallets offered by the company These wallets are compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android smartphones. Another wallet on which it can be stored in is the multi-currency wallet of Coinomi or Ledger or Trezor that are hardware wallets.
