Zcash is an implementation of the "Zerocash" protocol. Based on Bitcoin's code, Zcash intends to offer a far higher standard of privacy through a sophisticated zero-knowledge proving scheme that preserves confidentiality of transaction metadata. More technical details are available in our Protocol Specification.
The Zcash Network Observatory is on open-source suite of Zcash network security tools that enables any node operator to analyze propagation characteristics and detect phenomena such as forks, potential selfish mining, double spending, etc.
Features include:
- Advanced timestamp logging
- Network performance analysis: prototype complete, results shared
- Selfish/Stubborn mining: prototype complete
- Possible double spend detection: prototyped for transparent, nullifier comparison in progress for shielded
- Global performance analyses with multiple nodes: Work in progress, soliciting research sponsor(s)
- Websocket server to export real-time network data
This software is the Zcash client. It downloads and stores the entire history of Zcash transactions; depending on the speed of your computer and network connection, the synchronization process could take a day or more once the blockchain has reached a significant size.
See important security warnings on the Security Information page.
Zcash is experimental and a work in progress. Use it at your own risk.
This release is considered deprecated 16 weeks after the release day. There is an automatic deprecation shutdown feature which will halt the node some time after this 16-week period. The automatic feature is based on block height.
Please see our user guide for joining the main Zcash network.
- 📘 See the documentation at the ReadTheDocs for help and more information.
- 📨 Ask for help on the Zcash forum.
- 💬 Chat with our support community on Discord
Participation in the Zcash project is subject to a Code of Conduct.
| Flag | Feature |
|---|---|
| '--collecttimestamps' | enables avdanced timestamp logging into the datadir |
| '--outboundconnections=n' | force more connections made by this node, enables larger volume of data |
| '--silent' | stops outbound block and tx messages, only allows block servicing nodes to connect |
| '--websockets' | Enable the websocket server to export real-time network data |
NOTE: These RPC commands require the node to have '--collecttimestamps' enabled
| Command | Feature | Example Output |
|---|---|---|
| 'listforks' | list all forks seen on the network |  |
| 'detectdoublespends' | find double spend attempts in forks |  |
| 'detectselfishmining' | find selish mining attempts near forks |  |
Build Zcash along with most dependencies from source by running the following command:
./zcutil/build.sh -j$(nproc)
Currently, Zcash is only officially supported on Debian and Ubuntu.
For license information see the file COPYING.