Analytics platform Arkham has announced that it has started 'de-anonymizing' transactions in the Zcash cryptocurrency. This coin is known for allowing users to choose between private or public transaction processing.
Arkham claims to have labeled more than half (53%) of the transactions in the Zcash network, both shielded and open. Analysts have linked $420 billion in ZEC to specific individuals and organizations. Arkham's features for monitoring Zcash activity include the ability to receive notifications about large transactions, as well as analyze operations using artificial intelligence.
As an example of Zcash monitoring, Arkham pointed out that eight years ago, the US government confiscated $737,000 in ZEC from AlphaBay founder Alexander Cazes, which has appreciated in value over the years. The US government's balance now holds $1.26 million in ZEC.
Zcash creator Zooko Wilcox stated that this is not de-anonymization in the full sense, as ZEC users themselves decide whether their operations will be visible.
"The Arkham headline makes it sound like they can 'de-anonymize' Zcash owners. But in reality, when you use Zcash, you choose for yourself whether one of your wallets will be displayed on their dashboard or not," Wilcox wrote.
This fall, after almost five years of dormancy, the price of ZEC has increased nearly tenfold since the beginning of the year. Such a sharp spike has caused a lively reaction in the crypto community, dividing it into two camps: some believe the growth is a natural revaluation of the project's fundamental characteristics, while others see it as the result of a large-scale and coordinated promotional campaign.
At the end of October, Wilcox admitted that he did not know why ZEC was rising so much in price or if it would fall back. "But here's what I do know: the talk about this being a 'coordinated pump' is just more propaganda from people who can't believe in something good and genuine," the ZEC founder wrote.
Zcash supporters on social media also claim that the main part of Arkham's labeling is based on data from the open part of the network. The company itself assures that it used methods to correlate some activity from the private pool as well.
As of 12:40 Moscow time, Zcash is trading around $410. Over the past 24 hours, the coin has appreciated by 4.5%, and over the year by 543%.
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