Monero, Zcash and others
Where Monero beats — and trails — other approaches to private money
Monero's defining feature is privacy for everyone, always, on proven and simple (discrete-log-only) cryptography. Zcash offers cryptographically stronger hiding inside its "shielded" pool, but privacy there is optional and transparent transactions live alongside private ones. Other approaches (CoinJoin, Mimblewimble, Dash) hide noticeably less.
Monero vs Zcash
Zcash (ZEC) uses zk-SNARKs: a transaction in the shielded pool proves "I'm spending some note from the whole pool" without revealing it. That's essentially where Monero is heading with FCMP++ — Zcash has had it for a long time. But there are important differences.
| Monero | Zcash | |
|---|---|---|
| Private by default | Yes, every transaction | No: transparent addresses (t-addr) exist, like Bitcoin; wallets like Zashi shield by default |
| Sender anonymity set | 16 (RingCT) → whole chain (FCMP++) | The whole shielded pool (Orchard/Sapling) |
| Amounts | Always hidden | Hidden inside the pool; visible on the transparent side and when entering/leaving the pool |
| Cryptography | Discrete log, no setup | Orchard: Halo 2, no trusted setup; Sapling and Sprout — with a trusted setup |
| Transaction size | ~1.5–2 KB (RingCT), more with FCMP++ | Shielded — several KB |
| Mining | RandomX (CPU) | Equihash (ASIC); a hybrid with PoS is being discussed |
| Emission | Tail, 0.6 XMR/block forever | 21 million cap, halvings |
| Development funding | Donations (CCS), no cut of emission | Part of the block reward goes to a development fund |
| Exchange listings | Being removed en masse | Also removed, but less often — thanks to the transparent part |
Where Monero is better
- No "transparent crowd". In Zcash a large share of coins and transactions has historically been transparent, and pool crossings (shielding/deshielding) with matching amounts and timing deanonymise users. In Monero there's nothing to stand out from.
- Conservative cryptography: only elliptic curves and hashes, no pairings or trusted setup (true for Zcash's Orchard, but not its older pools).
- Decentralised CPU mining and no cut for companies.
- Culture: privacy isn't a feature but the essence of the project; wallets, nodes, research — all built around it.
Where Monero is worse (today)
- Anonymity set of 16 versus Zcash's whole pool — until FCMP++ activates, a real gap (see RingCT weaknesses).
- No "naked-eye" audit of supply — same as Zcash's shielded pool; both rely on the correctness of proofs.
- Harder with exchanges and regulators — less liquidity.
- A heavier blockchain, slower wallet scanning than Bitcoin-like coins.
Other approaches
| Project / approach | How it hides | Main weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin + CoinJoin (Wasabi, JoinMarket) | Several participants combine inputs into one transaction with equal outputs | Optional; amounts and addresses visible; CoinJoins are recognisable as such; coordinators shut down (Samourai seized in 2024) |
| Lightning | Off-chain payments through channels | Channel opens/closes are visible; routing nodes see some data |
| Litecoin MWEB | An optional Mimblewimble extension block: hidden amounts | Optional; entering/leaving MWEB is visible |
| Grin, Beam (Mimblewimble) | Hidden amounts, no addresses, transaction cut-through | The transaction graph can be reconstructed by an observer who sees transactions before aggregation |
| Dash | CoinJoin (PrivateSend/CoinJoin), optional | More "mixing" than privacy; amounts visible |
| Firo | The Spark protocol: hidden addresses and amounts, large anonymity set | Transparent transactions exist; smaller network and audience |
| Zano | CryptoNote-based: rings, hidden amounts, confidential assets, hybrid PoW/PoS | Same ring model, smaller network |
| Wownero | A meme-culture Monero fork, a testing ground for experiments | Not intended as serious money |
Bottom line
If you want privacy "by default, for everyone, with no setup", Monero remains the benchmark. If you want the strongest cryptographic hiding for an individual transaction, Zcash's shielded pool is stronger today — but you have to make sure you never step "into the light". Once FCMP++ activates, Zcash's main technical advantage — the size of the anonymity set — disappears for Monero.