Privacy protection has always been a hot topic in the cryptocurrency space, and Zcash, as a pioneer in this track, is worth our close understanding. Simply put, Zcash is a cryptocurrency built on Bitcoin's source code, but it has a clear feature—users can choose whether their transactions are private. If you want to make a transaction public, it’s as transparent as Bitcoin; if you want to keep it secret, the amounts and participants are completely shielded.

**Project Fundamentals**

Zcash's token is ZEC, officially launched on October 28, 2016, created by developers including Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn. In terms of consensus mechanism, it initially adopted PoW like Bitcoin, but by November 2022, Zcash completed the transition to PoS (Proof of Stake), with network security maintained by stakers.

**The Secret Weapon of Privacy: Zero-Knowledge Proofs**

What truly sets Zcash apart is the zk-SNARKs technology. The name sounds complex, but the core idea is elegant—in Chinese, it’s called "Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge." In layman's terms, it is a cryptographic tool that allows you to prove a fact without revealing specific information.

For example, in a transfer scenario, you want to prove to the recipient that "my account balance is sufficient to cover this payment," but you don’t want to disclose how much you have or how much you are transferring. zk-SNARKs can do this—they generate a mathematical proof that the verifier can confirm the transaction's validity without seeing the actual amounts or the parties involved.

In Zcash's private transactions, the sender, receiver, and transfer amount are all encrypted and locked, with only the encrypted data recorded on the blockchain. This ensures the transaction is tamper-proof while thoroughly hiding sensitive information. That’s why Zcash is highly regarded among privacy-conscious users.