Zcash is a digital currency with fast, confidential transactions and low fees. Privacy is the central feature of Zcash. It pioneered the use of zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt all transactions.

Several wallets are available for instant, mobile, secure and private payments: Mobile Wallets

You can buy ZEC on cryptocurrency exchanges .
You can also purchase Zcash peer-to-peer or acquire it by mining.

Zcash is fundamentally more private than Bitcoin or Ethereum. It offers fast block times (75 seconds), low fees, and regular upgrades.

Users can choose between Transparent or Shielded transactions. For more information see A Shielded Ecosystem .

The protocol is governed by the Zcash Improvement Proposal (ZIP) process. Anyone can submit a draft ZIP. Drafts are debated by the community and accepted or rejected by the ZIP editors:

• Daira Hopwood (Electric Coin Company)
• Deirdre Connolly (Zcash Foundation)

Decisions are written into the specification and ratified on-chain when the network adopts them.

First read our guide to block explorers . Then check Zcash Block Explorer .

Transactions expire after approximately 25 minutes (20 blocks) and funds are returned automatically.

Common reasons a transaction may not appear:

• Loss of connectivity
• Transaction fee too low
• Network overload
• Too many transparent inputs (size too large)

Tips to succeed:

• Use a stable connection
• Pay the standard fee (or higher for priority)
• Wait and retry later
• Use fewer inputs to keep the transaction small

Yes. Zcash encrypts sender, amount, and recipient data for shielded transactions.

Zcash does not:

• Encrypt multisignature transactions (FROST integration pending)
• Protect against correlations with transparent transactions
• Hide IP addresses

Further reading: A Shielded Ecosystem