The planned update of the blockchain anonymous cryptocurrency Zcash was successfully activated on October 28. This cryptocurrency developers wrote in his blog.
Sapling activation was performed on the 419200 block. The update includes a new type of protected addresses, which allows you to significantly improve the performance of the entire system: the transaction creation time will be reduced by 90%, and the amount of memory consumed will be more than 97%.
“The activation of Sapling, which took place at the historic moment of the second anniversary of the cryptocurrency, takes us one step closer to the widespread adoption of an open, censorship-resistant and private payment system,” the message says.
Immediately after activation, users of the zcashd client have access to addresses of a new type. Currently, users cannot transfer their assets from protected addresses of the old type to new Sapling addresses without disclosing the transaction amount. This opens up possibilities for auditing transactions in the ZEC blockchain.
Developers are working to create a tool that will automate the process of moving funds with the least damage to the privacy of users. They also recommend waiting for the release of the tool if users can afford it.
In addition, the main developer of Zcash Zuko Wilcox announced changes in the structure of mining cryptocurrency, which "will not be made in the near future and will be announced in advance." It is expected that the update will be activated next autumn. It will allow “to preserve and improve the security and stability of the network”, protect it from 51% attacks, and also expand the number of users who can earn ZEC by mining.
“We will work on and release additional details soon. We are now focused on the safe and stable launch of Sapling, the biggest update in the history of Zcash,” Wilcox writes. “I just wanted to notify everyone that we are not going to leave Mining as it is, throughout 2019. We intend to make changes to mining and start implementing them towards the end of next year.”