Zcoin (XZC) is a cryptocurrency focused on privacy and decentralization. It is the first coin to implement the Zerocoin protocol that enables financial privacy through the power of zero knowledge proofs with a focus on making privacy easy to use. It is also set to be the first to release MTP an ASIC resistant, anti-botnet proof of work algorithm that remains lightweight to verify to ensure fair distribution of coins and decentralized security. Zcoin is an open source decentralized cryptocurrency that focuses on achieving privacy and anonymity for its users while transacting. To achieve this privacy and anonymity, Zcoin uses zero-knowledge proofs via Zerocoin protocol which is one of the most cited cryptography papers at this point in time. In other words, when you transact using Bitcoin or Ethereum or something similar, your transaction history is always linked to your coins by default which makes you vulnerable. That, because all it takes is one link to your personal information or IP to find out the origin of the coins.However, if you transact using Zcoin’s Zerocoin feature, none of your transaction histories is linked to the actual coins and only the receiver and sender know that you have actually exchanged funds. Zerocoin is a cryptocurrency proposed by Johns Hopkins University professor Matthew D. Green and graduate students Ian Miers and Christina Garman as an extension to the Bitcoin protocol that would add true cryptographic anonymity to Bitcoin transactions. Zerocoin was first implemented into a fully functional cryptocurrency released to the public by Poramin Insom, as Zcoin who is also the lead developer, in September 2016. At the initial stage, Zcoin uses the Lyra2z algorithm for proof of work, then they will transition to a Merkle Tree proof of work algorithm, known as MTP. MTP is a unique memory hard algorithm that aims to solve several problems. Memory hard algorithms help prevent the development of ASICs which lead to centralized mining farms. Memory hard algorithms also prevent the use of botnets infecting computers for mining purposes. If a botnet was using up multiple gigs of memory, you’d be likely to notice something is wrong. “The basic concept is that it should establish the same price/cost for a single computation unit on all platforms meaning that there is no single device that should gain a significant advantage over another for the same price hence promoting egalitarian computing.
Our project is called the 'XY Oracle Network' (XYO Network). The XYO Network enables trustless transactions through an ecosystem of crypto-location components that can bridge the gap from the world of today, to the world of tomorrow. The XYO Network makes it possible for smart contracts to access the real world by using the XYO Network's ecosystem of devices to determine if an object is at a specific XY-coordinate. If it is, one can set up applications which execute transactions in the smart contract. This has opened up a new world of possibilities. The applications of such a technology are infinite. Take for example an eCommerce Company. With the XYO Network, they could now offer their premium customers payment-upon-delivery services. To be able to offer this service, the eCommerce company would leverage the XYO Network (which uses XYO Tokens) to write a smart contract. The XYO Network could then track the location of the package being sent to the consumer along every single step of fulfillment; from the warehouse shelf to the shipping courier, all the way into the consumer's house and every location in between. This could enable eCommerce retailers and websites to verify, in a trustless way, that the package not only appeared on the customer's doorstep, but also safely inside their home.