Zcoin is the first cryptocurrency to utilize the Zerocoin protocol ensuring complete privacy. It utilizes Zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs to hide transaction history and balances. With this protocol, you can mint your own private coin, spend it and mine another without revealing your identity.

Zcoin uses the Lyra2 hashing algorithm, but is soon to be replaced by Merkle Tree Proof (MTP) to enable democratic mining. There is a difference between Zcoin and Zcash. Even though the two pplement one another, they depend on different cryptographic codes. Zcoin uses RSA accumulators while Zcash utilizes zk-SNARKs. They both use trusted setups but have them implemented differently.

Zcoin was initially meant to be a Bitcoin extension, but was later developed independently. The main aim of this coin is to hide the identity of its users, ensuring freedom and anonymity in commerce. You can carry out a crypto transaction using this coin without worrying about revealing your address balance of history.

The coin's developers include its founder Poramin Insom, Tadhg Riordan, the Solidity developer, Peter Shugalev, the lead core developer.

In order for a node to have the ability to run a full blockchain to enable transactions to take place on the network, it requires staking of 1000 XZC.