Criticisms of Zcash

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Erik Orrje’s avatar
Erik OrrjeOP, 15 days ago·#2362

Zcash will become the next money. That's because it contains bitcoin's solutions to fiat, and also solves bitcoin's lack of privacy.

Criticized1oustanding criticism
Benjamin Davies’s avatar
Benjamin Davies revised 13 days ago·#2427
Only version leading to #2567 (2 total)

Why not some other cryptocurrency that also has those features?
For example, why not an existing or future fork of Zcash?

“[Insert favoured cryptocurrency] will become the next money” is an extremely easy to vary statement.

Criticism of #2362
Erik Orrje’s avatar
Erik OrrjeOP, 11 days ago·#2495

Is "it contains bitcoin's solutions to fiat, and also solves bitcoin's lack of privacy" easy to vary? Could be made harder to vary by explaining the technicals of zero-knowledge proofs as well (though I'm not konwledgeable enough to do that here).

Criticism of #2427Criticized1oustanding criticism
Benjamin Davies’s avatar
Benjamin Davies, 11 days ago·#2496

The part that is easy to vary is that an arbitrary amount of different cryptos can be made with the same features.

The features themselves can be as specific as you like but the overall argument is still extremely easy to vary, because it is an argument for a specific cryptocurrency.

It is the same as arguing for a specific god because the god you like has specific features. The god itself is still easy to vary.

Criticism of #2495
Erik Orrje’s avatar
Erik OrrjeOP, 7 days ago·#2567

The part that is easy to vary is that an arbitrary amount of different cryptos can be made with the same features.

There's never an arbitrary amount of solutions to a specific problem. In this case, the problems are the centralisation and the lack of privacy of our current money. They may not be problems for you specifically (e.g. if you live in a high-trust jurisdiction), but I'd like to hear arguments as to why nobody in the world would consider them problems.

Criticism of #2496Criticized1oustanding criticism
Benjamin Davies’s avatar
Benjamin Davies, 7 days ago·#2575

I don’t deny that Zcash might be decentralised and private.

For Zcash to become the next money, it is not sufficient for it to just be durable, fungible, private, decentralised, etc.

As long as it doesn’t have any underlying value, it will not be suitable as money.

You are using secondary attributes of good money as positive justifications for Zcash as good money, but you are failing to answer the criticism that Zcash has no underlying value.

Criticism of #2567