Quick take:
- According to Weiss Ratings, Monero (XMR) is losing its appeal as the choice privacy coin.
- Users who value privacy are leaning more towards ZCash (ZEC).
- ZCash recently went through the Heartwood upgrade that enables more third-party integrations and better privacy.
- ZCash (ZEC) also has a halving event in November of this year.
The team at Weiss ratings have concluded that Monero (XMR) is losing its appeal as the choice coin for privacy-centric crypto users. The same users now prefer ZCash (ZEC) due to the addition of new features through the recent Heartwood upgrade. The team at Weiss Ratings elaborated on the shift toward ZEC via a tweet that stated the following.
#Zcash has successfully hard forked in the planned network update “Heartwood.” Now, miners can receive #Coinbase transactions directly to their private address. Privacy coins are very important for the space, and Zcash is overtaking #Monero as the go-to privacy coin. #XMR #ZEC
ZCash’s Heartwood Network Upgrade
The mentioned heartwood upgrade was activated at block 903,000 of the ZCash network on the 16th of July at approximately 11a m UTC. This upgrade enables more third-party integrations and better privacy through shielded coinbase. Furthermore, the upgrades were as a result of the two ZCash improvement proposals of ZIP-221 and ZIP-213.
Flyclient, specified through ZIP 221, enables efficient proofs of Proof-of-Work for light clients. In addition to enabling improved light-client wallets, this improves many cross-chain protocols. This ZIP specifies modifications to be made to the Zcash block header format to include Merkle Mountain Range (MMR) commitments.
Shielded Coinbase – ZIP 213 defines modifications to the Zcash consensus rules that enable coinbase funds to be mined to shielded Sapling addresses. It does not disable the use of transparent addresses in coinbase transactions.
ZCash Halving in November 2020
Also worth mentioning is the fact that ZCash (ZEC) has a halving event later this year in mid-November. The halving will happen at block 1,046,400 which is estimated to occur on the 16th of November. With the ZCash halving, mining rewards will be reduced from the current 12.5 ZEC to 6.25 ZEC.
The event exactly four months away and ZCash could have adequate bullish momentum to retest the $75 resistance zone that was last visited in mid-February this year. Other zones of considerable resistance for ZCash on its way up include $64, $66, $69 and $73.
In the meantime, the daily ZEC/USDT chart indicates that ZCash could be due for a pullback. This can be seen through a reduction in trade volume; the MACD turning bearish; and a high daily MFI of 74.
As with all analyses of ZCash, traders and investors are advised to use adequate stop losses. Additionally, having an eye out for sudden Bitcoin movements is highly recommended when trading altcoins.