ZCash (ZEC) can either make it or break it with its decision to allow ASIC mining for now. When it became clear that CryptoNote coins are facing a choice to allow Antminer X3 machines, or change their mining algorithm, ZCash was one of the closely watched projects.
Many expected that ZCash would follow the path of Monero, and choose a lower hashrate and the independence and decentralization of having only GPU and CPU miners. But instead, there are indications the developer team may be sympathetic to ASIC mining.
The ZCash project has received criticism in the past from the Monero community, for being organized as a company, and not as a grassroots movement. ZCash has always been marketed to large-scale customers, and this time, ASIC mining may be presented as a positive feature.
https://twitter.com/ZcashFoundation/status/993896124670009344
This time, however, the ZCash community expects an election to decide on the fate of ASICs. Deliveries from Bitmain are expected to start in June. In the meantime, the ZCash Foundation is researching the potential power of the upcoming Equihash machines, as well as the possibility that such machines are already providing hashing power to the network.
Recently, the ZCash project also received an endorsement from Vitalik Buterin:
https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/993684262107926528
Hardware wallet expert Saleem Rashid also spoke in favor of ASIC mining, seeing it as a positive feature.
The debates about mining the ZCash network have heated up over the past few months. It is possible that the result may be ASIC resistance, once the community has spoken. Curiously, the founder of ZClassic, controversial Rhett Creighton, has announced he will participate in the community discussions around ZEC ASIC resistance.
https://twitter.com/HeyRhett/status/994117239057022977
It is unknown if ZClassic, a now abandoned coin, would see an arrival of ASIC mining. But some believe a high hashrate brings a coin closer to the qualities of Bitcoin.
After the discussion started, ZEC fell along with the rest of the market. ZEC lost more than 7% overnight, to $266.01, its usual price range. Despite the spike above $600, ZEC did not manage to fulfill the predictions for reaching and keeping the $1,000 levels.
!ZEC!
ZEC remains a relatively untraded asset, with low activity on Bitfinex and Binance. Up to 11% of volumes depend on Tether (USDT) trading, with some inflow of USD, but ZEC is mostly traded in pairings with BTC. HitBTC, an exchange with reputation flaws, remains the most active market for ZEC. Thus, the coin’s profile may be appealing for its solid technology, but in terms of markets and liquidity, it is still holding risks.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
