{"id":23550,"date":"2023-09-20T17:14:46","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T17:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/zcash-risk-as-viabtc-controls-51-of-hashrate\/"},"modified":"2023-09-20T17:14:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T17:14:46","slug":"zcash-risk-as-viabtc-controls-51-of-hashrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/zcash-risk-as-viabtc-controls-51-of-hashrate\/","title":{"rendered":"Zcash risk as ViaBTC controls 51% of hashrate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : CoinJournal: Latest Bitcoin, Ethereum &amp; Crypto News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-article-image  -mt-24  mb-8  lg:-mt-32  rounded  overflow-hidden\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/imagecache\/2022\/02\/1644272316072-53f20c4f-05b1-4026-8a4f-7b1f8c25939f-smartcrop-750x375.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\" media=\"(min-width: 750px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/imagecache\/2022\/02\/1644272316072-53f20c4f-05b1-4026-8a4f-7b1f8c25939f-smartcrop-363x181.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/imagecache\/2022\/02\/1644272316072-53f20c4f-05b1-4026-8a4f-7b1f8c25939f-smartcrop-750x375.jpg\" type=\"image\/jpeg\" media=\"(min-width: 750px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/imagecache\/2022\/02\/1644272316072-53f20c4f-05b1-4026-8a4f-7b1f8c25939f-smartcrop-363x181.jpg\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/>\n<\/picture>                    <\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">ViaBTC controls more than 51% of Zcash hashrate, Coinbase said in a report.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">The mining pool\u2019s control of over half of hashrate poses risk of a 51% for the Zcash network.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">Coinbase has taken measures to protect users, including increasing Zcash confirmation threshold to 110 blocks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/news\/tag\/coinbase\/\">Coinbase<\/a> security team claims that the network hashrate distribution for proof-of-work cryptocurrency <a href=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/news\/tag\/zcash\/\">Zcash (ZEC)<\/a> is significantly imbalanced. Specifically, more than 51% of the hash power distribution is controlled by a single mining pool \u2013 ViaBTC.<\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Risk of 51% attack<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Coinbase said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coinbase.com\/blog\/security-psa-observed-risks-in-zcash-mining-pool-distribution\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">blog post<\/a> today that following the observation, its team moved to try to mitigate potential risks by putting in place several measures. With centralisation risks likely to emerge from this \u2013 a 51% attack in this case \u2013 the US-based company said it had increased Zcash transaction confirmation threshold to 110 blocks.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The increase means Zcash deposit time increases from about 40 minutes to 2.5 hours, with this intended to reduce the risk of network manipulation in terms of transaction double-spend or fraud.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Coinbase has also moved the Zcash markets \u201climit-only\u201d as part of reducing potential impact of volatility. The exchange has also reportedly engaged both ViaBTC and Electric Coin Company, the developer group behind Zcash as it advocates for a more decentralised mining distribution for ZEC.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe shared our concerns around the risks of mining centralization and provided recommendations for various options that either party could implement to reduce the risk of a 51% attack,\u201d Coinbase\u2019 security team wrote.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Zcash developer ECC acknowledged the concerns raised by Coinbase, confirming discussions had been undertaken.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ECC is aware of this issue, and we\u2019ve had conversations with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coinbase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@coinbase<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ViaBTC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ViaBTC<\/a>, Zcash&#8217;s security lead, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZcashCommGrants?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ZcashCommGrants<\/a>. IMPORTANT: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Zcash?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Zcash<\/a> is a decentralized, open-source network with no \u201clead developer,\u201d no \u201cissuer,\u201d and no org that controls it. \ud83e\uddf5 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X2a16x4xDQ\">https:\/\/t.co\/X2a16x4xDQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Electric Coin Co. (@ElectricCoinCo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ElectricCoinCo\/status\/1704240109267153237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A 51% attack in PoW blockchains can occur when more than 50% of the network\u2019s computational power (hashrate) falls under the control of a single miner or mining pool. In this case, the entity can leverage the hash power to execute double-spend attacks or censor transactions in what could result in loss of user or exchange funds.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Some of the top 51% attacks to happen in the crypto space include Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Gold, Verge and Vertcoin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">ECC plans to move Zcash to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, a feat that Ethereum achieved with its Merge milestone in September 2022.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Moving Zcash to proof of stake is one of four key focus areas for ECC, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nate_zec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@nate_zec<\/a> is dedicated full-time to PoS R&amp;D with significant support from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/feministPLT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@feministPLT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Electric Coin Co. (@ElectricCoinCo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ElectricCoinCo\/status\/1704240115118137451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"post-meta\">\n<hr class=\"mb-6\"\/>\n<h6 class=\"text-3xl  mb-4  text-green-300\">Share this article<\/h6>\n<hr class=\"mb-6\"\/>\n<h6 class=\"text-3xl  mb-4  text-green-300\">Categories<\/h6>\n<hr class=\"mb-6\"\/>\n<h6 class=\"text-3xl  mb-4  text-green-300\">Tags<\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/coinjournal.net\/news\/coinbase-says-zcash-risks-51-amid-viabtc-control\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : CoinJournal: Latest Bitcoin, Ethereum &amp; Crypto News ) ViaBTC controls more than 51% of Zcash hashrate, Coinbase said in a report. The mining pool\u2019s control of over half of hashrate poses risk of a 51% for the Zcash network. Coinbase has taken measures to protect users, including increasing Zcash confirmation threshold [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":23551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}