Parity to Help Zcash Gain Independence From Zcash

The privacy-centric zcash cryptocurrency just took a small step toward greater decentralization.

Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, ethereum-focused startup Parity Technologies is partnering with the non-profit Zcash Foundation to create the first zcash node software that isn't built or managed by the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company led by Zooko Wilcox.

Parity CTO Fredrik Harrysson told CoinDesk his startup will have two engineers devoted to building this new zcash node.

"Philosophically, both the foundation and the zcash startup are fork-friendly," the Zcash Foundation's communications manager, Sonya Mann, told CoinDesk, meaning they don't object to anyone creating splinter versions of the cryptocurrency.

Since Wilcox himself told CoinDesk in June that the zcash community needs multiple parties adding checks-and-balances to the overall system, the startup's notable absence from this project shows how the foundation is maturing on its own trajectory.

Mann called the Parity partnership an "Important milestone" for the zcash community at-large.

Beyond bolstering options for zcash users, this collaboration will help Parity develop expertise for its upcoming interoperability solution, Polkadot, which aims to allow transactions across and between different blockchains.

"We want to launch Polkadot with a zcash bridge from day one," Harrysson said.

Harrysson said investing in this infrastructure will make it easier to eventually build bridges between blockchains, such as bitcoin and zcash or ethereum.

"Polkadot is a sharding method at the end of the day, so we may be able to see some sharding benefits for zcash with this," he added, referencing how polkadot will also include scaling solutions.