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Zcash (ZEC) is a private currency better than Monero (XMR) and should be considered one of the most important projects in cryptographic space, according to a new study.
A report from the Digital Asset Research (DAR) studio in New York claims that the use of cryptography by Zcash makes it a much safer private currency than its main rival, Monero. The report claims that the XMR network has suffered from past vulnerabilities and could be exploited again. "It's ours [DAR] opinion that the privacy guarantees provided by Zcash & # 39; s zk-SNARKs are much stronger than those of Monero & # 39; s RingCT ", the report said.
Although both are designed to hide key user information, Monero and Zcash use very different methods. XMR uses something called RingCT, a "mixing" system that gathers user data from senders and recipients together. This disassociates information that could be used to identify a user from the transaction history.
Zcash, in comparison, encrypts data, which means that the entire transaction history is hidden from view. The platform uses a cryptographic technique called zero knowledge tests that can verify payments without having to know specific details about it.
ZEC is not as vulnerable as XMR
Director of technological research at DAR, Lucas Nuzziwho wrote the report, he said Crypto Briefing that the different methods used by Monero and Zcash made them very distinctive.
Although Monero's RingCT system is "sophisticated", it is still vulnerable; transaction data can not be attached to specific user information, such as a wallet address, but they are not yet hidden and are publicly visible on the blockchain.
"Monero does not hide anything," Nuzzi said. "Technically, there is no obfuscation in Monero transactions, privacy is simply obtained by disassociating the identities of senders and recipients, although this approach has certainly contributed to Monero's adoption of users, it is based on the strength of 39; heuristics used in the mixing process. "
Nuzzi explained how Monero was "heavily stained" when researchers from the University of Illinois and Princeton managed to find systemic vulnerabilities before the network adopted RingCT in January 2017.
The researchers have shown that they are able to clearly identify the Monero senders with an accuracy of 80%. (Note: the individual identities of the senders required additional information such as exchange records, according to Andrew Miller, one of the authors of the paper – see comments). "While the activation of RingCT in January 2017 diminished the vulnerabilities related to the blockchain analysis, it is not clear how sustainable this improvement is" He added.
The DAR report did not detect any such vulnerability with Zcash. Although it is still present on a public blockchain, it is currently not possible to access information about the source of funds, the destination and the amount of ZEC tokens sent. Nuzzi pointed out that even if someone managed to penetrate the platform, it would still be impossible to determine the history of past transactions. "While this [hack] it would be a catastrophic event for Zcash, the guarantees of privacy are much stronger " He added.
Zcash vs Monero.
Zcash is a private currency, but not by default. Transactions can be sent publicly, as they would on a conventional network such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), or they can be sent privately where no user information is made public. There are also options that allow the sender or recipient to "protect" their information while the other allows them to be made public. It has also been found that the platform-specific cryptographic tool, zk-SNARKS, is able to validate private transactions in milliseconds.
Crypto Briefing reported the results of research conducted earlier this month that predicted that Monero would have increased investor demand. Published by the consulting firm ICO Satis Group, the researchers said they had already detected signs of increasing prevalence by criminals who were using Monero for illegal activities such as money laundering and ransom money.
The Zcash developers claim that ZEC, and other private currencies, are not limited to illicit activities; Crypto Briefing is inclined to agree. Private coins can be used for anonymous donations or for dissidents in autocratic regimes. They can be used on a daily basis to stop technology giants, a separate law, spying on users' spending habits.
Private coins have a legitimate case; the debate has shifted to what is the most effective method. If Zcash is able to protect users' identities better than its competitors, it has the best potential to expand.
Better not keep it secret …
The author is invested in BTC and ETH, which are mentioned in this article.
This article was updated to indicate that RingCT activation took place in January 2017, not in April 2017, as previously indicated.
It has also been updated to clarify that researchers have requested additional information to identify up to 80% of Monero senders individually: as the document concludes, "A significant fraction (91%) of non-RingCT Monero transactions with one or more mixtures are deductible (ie they contain at least one deductible mixture) and therefore can be traced in a definitive way.In addition, we estimate that among all transactional inputs so far, the GuessNewest heuristic can be used to identify the correct mixin with a & # 39; accuracy of 80%. "
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