From A to Zcash: A new blockchain launches

OCTOBER 28th, 2016

“Well, all information looks like noise until you break the code.”
– Neal Stephenson, 'Snow Crash'

FORWARD

Today's launch of Zcash ushers in a new kind of cryptocurrency, which promises confidential transactions.

While bitcoin offers some degree of privacy, the traceability of a coin’s transactions has led some to voice doubts about the digital currency’s fungibility. If each coin is not just like all the others, then trust in the system is weakened.

The team behind Zcash argues that it solves that problem by relying on a new cryptographic tool called a zk-SNARK which allows the data to be verified without being revealed or stored. This could open up the field to new use cases, as well as change the way we think about security, data ownership and identity. (Read the full story.)

Wait, there's more:

· A US bank regulator wants to oversee blockchain and fintech startups. “Responsible innovation.”

· Australia wants to include bitcoin and digital currencies in AML regulation. A step forward.

· Next month CME launches two bitcoin price indexes. Transparency.

· A Japanese group is set to launch the first bank-backed digital currency exchange. Wait, what?

· Starting next month, you can buy bitcoin at Swiss railway stations. But you can’t use it for tickets.

· The DAO hack funds are on the move again, moving between blockchains. The plot thickens.

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