A recent analysis of the traceability of the leading privacy coins on the market suggests that 99.9% of Zcash transactions can be tracked since most users do not make use of the privacy features provided.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University focused on the privacy features of the top two privacy coins, Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC). According to the study report, the launch of the strict, security and anonymity conditions of its extensive community has maintained the reputation of the crypto as undetectable.
99.9% of Zcash transactions can be trailed
On the other hand, the study states that despite Zcash offering robust cryptographic features, over 99 percent of users do not have the privacy features at their disposal. The report defines ZEC as a Bitcoin fork that aims to “completely break the link between the sender and the receiver.”
In addition, the study concludes that Zcash is not currently extensively used. The researchers mention the May 2020 darknet study, which claims that ZEC is not the most favourable of the privacy coins used in the dark web. ZEC uses SNARKs or zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive knowledge arguments to avoid any interplay between the prover and the approver. This is a barricade that hinders attempts to interconnect addresses.
However, ZEC provides both privately protected and anonymously open transactions. Researchers found that only 0.09 per cent of Zcash users over 30 days; take full advantage of the privacy features at their disposal.
30% of Monero transactions can be trailed
In addition, the study points out that more cryptocurrencies are looking to label themselves as anonymous. These altcoins sell the concept that they offer absolute anonymity to transactions.
The study focuses on multiple XMR characteristics that are geared to non-traceability and non-linkability. In order to ensure no interlinking, a one-time address for each transaction is adopted. In addition, Monero avoids trailing by using unique ring signatures, a form of zero-knowledge proof, close at hand with decoy inputs dubbed mixins. However, the study found that 30% of XMR transactions can be monitored precisely.