CoinDesk
Zcash developers have released Udon, moving parts of Project Tachyon into Zakura Common, a shared cryptography library used to create and verify private transactions. The team’s long-term target is more than 50,000 private payments per second, but Udon does not demonstrate Tachyon’s speed and the upgrade has not been activated on Zcash.
Why it matters
Private payments rely on cryptographic proofs that let network computers verify a transaction without revealing who paid whom or how much. Earlier Common improvements cut proof-creation times from more than three seconds to under 200 milliseconds in some tests. Tachyon aims to combine proofs from many payments, reducing the data nodes need to receive and check as usage grows.
The scale of the challenge is substantial: at the 50,000-payments-per-second target, the developers estimate current cryptography would make each Zcash node process more than 500 megabytes of data every second. Udon brings some calculations needed for the proposed upgrade into software developers have already optimized, giving them a foundation for further work.
Market impact
Zcash’s current shielded-payment activity remains far below the target. The network averaged about 11,700 transactions involving shielded funds per day in the seven days through Sept. 21, roughly one every seven seconds. That average fell to about 6,200 per day in the seven days through Sept. 28.
The release is an engineering milestone, not evidence that Zcash can yet handle Tachyon’s proposed throughput. Further development and a security review are still required before possible activation, leaving adoption and implementation progress as the key milestones to watch.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Udon doing for Zcash?
Udon brings parts of Project Tachyon into Zakura Common, a shared cryptography library used to create and verify private transactions.
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How does Tachyon aim to help Zcash scale private payments?
Tachyon aims to combine proofs from many payments, reducing the data network nodes need to receive and check.
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Has Udon shown that Zcash can process 50,000 private payments per second?
No. More than 50,000 payments per second is a long-term target, and Udon does not demonstrate that speed.
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How much has Zcash shielded-payment activity recently changed?
The network averaged about 11,700 shielded-fund transactions per day in the seven days through Sept. 21, then about 6,200 per day in the seven days through Sept. 28.
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What must happen before Tachyon could be activated?
Tachyon requires further development and a security review before possible activation on Zcash.
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