ZCash is a cryptocurrency that is built on the same technology as Bitcoin, but allows for improved security and privacy features compared to Bitcoin. ZCash was designed by the Electric Coin Company and is based on the Zerocash protocol that was developed by researchers from Johns Hopkins University.

The ZCash system is designed to hide the sender, receiver, and amount from the public view and encrypts all members’ identity. This means that your transactions on the ZCash network remain anonymous and untraceable, which gives users a sense of security and privacy with the use of the network.

The main feature of ZCash that distinguishes itself from Bitcoin is its ability to offer enhanced privacy of transactions. This is made possible through the use of shielded transactions and zero-knowledge proofs. With shielded transactions, users can send and receive ZCash payments while keeping their transaction, sender and receiver information completely anonymous. This added privacy provides a layer of security that makes it difficult or impossible for third parties to see and track transactions.

Unlike Bitcoin, ZCash uses a different hashing algorithm called “Equihash” which is a memory-intense algorithm specifically designed to be resistant to ASIC mining hardware. This helps to make the ZCash mining process more democratic as it is designed to only be profitable on PCs using GPUs and CPUs, instead of mining farms using ASICs.

Overall, ZCash offers an innovative privacy-focused version of the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin. By using shielded transactions and zero-knowledge proofs, ZCash is able to provide its users with the highest level of privacy for their transactions. In addition, Equihash allows for a more democratic mining process that is designed to be profitable on PCs. ZCash is definitely an interesting cryptocurrency worth keeping an eye on as it aims to provide a secure, anonymous, and more democratic alternative to Bitcoin.