Zcash — Cash over IP
By: Guarda Wallet
Tags: Zcash, Bitcoin, IP

Guarda is publishing this article in collaboration with our partners from Coincentrix — a digital asset investment firm, greatly inspired by blockchain.

Bitcoin came around in 2009 and back then it already was a revolution, but only few knew about it. It took years for it to become widely recognized and more years will pass till cryptocurrencies would become widely adopted. Yet, it is already significantly changing the world before our eyes.

The Internet Protocol, or IP shares a bit of a similar story. Developed in 1970s and known only by few, it disrupted multiple fundamental industries after the age of the internet begun. Agriculture, Education, Energy, Food and Healthcare are just some examples of industries revolutionized by it. Oyedeji Oluwoye, the head of research and founder of Coincentrix.io, believes that finance is no exception from the list of the industries transformed by the IP, thus he has been describing Bitcoin as “Money over IP”.

A cash transaction is a transaction where payment is settled immediately, and record of the transaction can come in a form of a receipt. Also Anonymity is a specific attribute of cash. Cash does not require the disclosure of personal information between both parties involved in a transaction.

Bitcoin is the most common cryptocurrency and father to the first blockchain, but it seems Anonymity is not the first attribute to market the coin as much as it use to before other alternative coins joined the market with full emphasis on privacy and Anonymity.

With Banks shifting towards an all-digital economy, their databases/servers investments in infrastructure have increased exponentially. Cash is slowly being forgotten as the main medium of exchange due to technology. But with technology new innovations are created everyday with the ability to remake things of the past.

With that ZCash was thrown in the mix late 2016. It carries the Anonymity and privacy attributes of cash while having a document of the transaction on the blockchain. This enhances Bitcoin as “Money over IP” and creates Zcash as “Cash over IP”.

Zcash is a crypto-currency that uses complex and cutting-edge cryprographic protocols along with a widely distributed network of computers to encrypt transactions so that third parties can not see who is sending, who is receiving, or even know the amount of Zcash that was sent. The team has put significant effort into developing a zero-knowledge proving scheme that allows to shield some details of the transaction and makes it possible to confirm its validity at the same time.

This breakthrough technology inspired many professionals in various fields along with wide adopters. Guarda Team was no exception, which led to making a concept of a secure mobile light wallet for Zcash and its submission for Zcash Foundation grant program. The proposition succeeded and now the team is on the verge of releasing the Android version of the wallet, made in close collaboration with Zcash representatives. The wallet will ensure full user control of funds, as private keys are stored on the device, make it possible to buy and exchange Zcash right within the app, manage the currency and more.