Zcash (ZEC) Fourth Upgrade Heartwood Offers Robust Privacy

Zcash protocol upgrade Heartwood is less than 24 hours away with improvements in privacy via shielded coinbase and more efficient functionality for light client software. This new protocol upgrade which follows the previous Sapling enhancement comprises two Zcash improvement protocols (ZIP) — ZIP 213 (shielded coinbase) and ZIP 221 (Flyclient).

According to the announcement documentation, Heartwood will introduce shielded coinbase to the Zcash network. Detailing the need for ZIP 213, an excerpt from the blog post reads: For ZIP 221, this protocol enhancement sees the introduction of more efficient Proof-of-Work for lighter Zcash client software.

Timeline of Zcash