In the anonymous Zcash cryptocurrency blockchain, the Heartwood hard fork is activated on block 903,000. The update will ensure mining privacy.
Heartwood is the fourth update to the Zcash network since the advent of this cryptocurrency in 2016. Heartwood was activated with the support of the Zcash Foundation and the Electric Coin Company (ECC), supporting the development of the Zcash cryptocurrency. The update contains two suggestions for improving Zcash (ZIP): “Shielded Coinbase” (ZIP 213), which provides anonymous mining of Zcash, and “Flyclient” with support for lightweight clients to confirm transactions. Hard fork is not backward compatible. This means that all nodes must update their software in order to successfully synchronize with the new Zcash blockchain.
“The Zcash Foundation is pleased to introduce the Heartwood update with ECC. Soon, users will be able to connect to the Zcash network using the alternative Zebra client, compatible with the Zcash consensus and developed by the Zcash Foundation, ”said Zosh Foundation Executive Director Josh Cincinnati.
Note that the Zebra client, using the Rust programming language, was launched by Parity Technologies last June. Shielded Coinbase will allow miners to receive rewards for processing transactions directly to Zcash secure addresses, which hide the transaction amount, addresses and an encrypted text field. ECC Technical Director Nathan Wilcox said that the implementation of ZIP 213 was planned from the very beginning of the project. The update was implemented thanks to the Sapling hard fork, which was activated in 2018.
“With the help of secure transactions, individual miners can anonymously receive rewards. Mining pools can also privately send payouts to their customers, ”said Nathan Wilcox.
The Flyclient offer allows you to confirm transactions even with a minimum of information. Like simplified payment verification (SPV), a block header without its contents is sufficient to confirm a transaction. In addition, Flyclient simplifies interaction with other blockchains, including Ethereum. Summa’s founder and developer, James Prestwich, added that a full Zcash site is required for full privacy. Flyclient protects light clients from intruders and ensures the complete anonymity of each wallet.
Recall that in June 2018, the Zwash network successfully passed the Overwinter hard fork to prepare the Zcash code for the larger Sapling hard fork, and in December 2019, the Blossom hard fork took place in the Zcash network.
