Cryptocurrency platform Horizen has decided to remove all consensus-level privacy features, after which its native ZEN token will no longer be anonymous.
“The current regulatory environment creates issues with the availability and adoption of privacy cryptocurrencies,” the company explained.
The privacy of the blockchain itself was provided by the shielded pools of the main Horizen network. They were based on the outdated ZCash Sprout technology. Now the developers of the platform are preparing the ZEN 4.1 software update, which will no longer support shielded transactions at the consensus level.
The program itself will be updated on the test network in August. And the main network will implement the changes as early as September this year. The company argues that supporting privacy features at the core network level is not the only way to ensure privacy for the Horizen ecosystem. The goal of moving away from shielded pools is to reduce the risks associated with the Horizen vision, the company says.
Anonymous cryptocurrencies typically use protocol-level mixers, ring signatures, or zero-knowledge proof to mask participants. In more advanced protocols, there is an automatic splitting of the transaction amount into small parts in order to confuse anyone trying to track the movement of funds.
Recall that ZEN was among the coins that were on the list of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange for delisting. However, the exchange recently announced that it has decided to cancel its plan to delist a number of digital coins in the European Union. The company explained that in this way they follow the laws of the EU.
