

Ycash? Zcash? Huh?

We know. That’s why we made this short & sweet FAQ that’ll keep you updated in 5 minutes.

Tl;dr - Ycash is a Zcash fork slated to happen on the 18th of July, and if you hold Zcash you will have Ycash.

When will the Ycash fork happen?

At block height #570,000, estimated to be around 18th of July (18 hours to go at the time this is published). We made a handy countdown for anyone wanting to track the progress!

What is this fork about?

Ycash is a hard fork of the Zcash blockchain. At block #570,000, a new chain will split off from the Zcash Blockchain, the new blockchain will come with some technical changes while both chains will share the same transaction history. This is an event similar to that which created Bitcoin Cash ABC/SV earlier this year.

Is this a fork out of disagreement/resentment?

Disagreement, yes. Resentment, no. While the team behind Ycash disagrees (in a friendly, respectable manner) with how Zcash will be in the future, the Zcash team have publicly stated that this is the first “friendly fork” of the Zcash blockchain.



This is what a Friendly Fork is. (Image Credits)

Does Zcash have anything to do with Ycash?

No. It is in the first line of their announcement post on the Zcash community forums, on Ycash website, and Zcash founder, Zooko has publicly stated Ycash is independent of Zcash.

How will Ycash be different from Zcash?

It will preserve Zcash’s Founders Reward (capped at 2.1 million) by reducing the Founders Reward rate from 20% to a perpetual 5%. Founders Reward will be called Ycash Development Fund (YDF). Ycash will push for ASIC resistance (mining with commodity hardware) which was no longer pursued on the Zcash blockchain

What will Ycash do once they launch?

Ycash will direct the remaining Founders Reward in its entirety to a newly formed nonprofit named the Ycash Foundation. Continue to leverage on Zcash’s strength by incorporating most of Zcash’s changes where feasible. (Planned) By no later than October 2019, Ycash will change its Proof of Work algorithm that is friendly to commodity hardware (CPUs/GPUs).

Are they committing to anything in principle?

Yep. Here’s a simplified list:

Committing to privacy as Zcash did. Like Zcash, a 21m total supply & 2.1m on Founder’s Reward. Commit to technologies that enable mining on commodity hardware (CPUs/GPUs) Full Proof of Work until at least the second block reward (~75% supply would have been mined by then.) Keep transaction fees low by any means necessary.

Can I mine it?

Absolutely. Ycash will run the Equihash (192,7) variant hashing algorithm. You can use these miners which support Equihash (192,7):

As for mining pools, currently over 10 pools support Ycash - you can check out the full list here.

Will any exchanges support Ycash?

Yes. According to Ycash’s website, SafeTrade, BigONE, Hoo & Citex have pledged to support trading. Stay updated by favouriting Ycash on CoinGecko!

Disclaimer: CoinGecko does not endorse any pool, mining software or exchange. Do your own research!