"Bitcoin going legitimate was evidently a bridge too far. According to new reporting by the Wall Street Journal, cryptobros are now ditching the old currencies in favor of an even more anonymous vehicle: Zcash."
"Zcash isn't new, but the fervor around it is. Launched in October of 2016, the Zcash blockchain protocol was designed by researchers at institutions like Johns Hopkins University and Tel Aviv University to basically add another layer of privacy to the Bitcoin protocol, theoretically making transactions "untraceable." It's one of numerous privacy tokens in use these days, meaning cryptocurrencies with relatively small market caps that use advanced cryptography to almost completely obscure their users from sight."
"Zcash's closest rival, Monero, launched in 2014 and has become the preferred privacy token among both privacy-obsessed cryptobros and, increasingly, criminals seeking to conceal everything from ransomware payments and international transactions to drug deals on darknet markets."
"Of course, Bitcoin and its look-alikes quickly descended into a haven for grifters, drug sales, and money-laundering, enabling anonymous criminals the world over. Then a few confusing things happened. First, it quickly turned out that Bitcoin wasn't quite as anonymous as initially advertised, meaning crooks had to take extra steps to launder their ill-gotten gains."
Bitcoin launched in 2009 as a decentralized digital currency with transactions recorded on a public blockchain. Criminal use followed, but Bitcoin proved less anonymous than advertised, requiring additional laundering steps. Bitcoin also became a legitimate financial asset, appearing on major trading platforms and attracting government scrutiny. New reporting indicates some crypto users are shifting toward Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in 2016. Zcash uses advanced cryptography to add privacy layers and aims to make transactions untraceable. Monero, launched in 2014, is another leading privacy token used by both privacy-focused users and criminals for concealing payments and illicit activity.
Read at Futurism
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