Bitcoin Private (BTCP) Fork from ZClassic (ZCL)

ZClassic is a privacy token, forked from ZCash, which applies “ZK-Snarks,” (sometimes notated as “ZKP”) a feature which takes transactions to a new frontier of technological anonymity. While Bitcoin is perceived by many to be anonymous due to the public key showing on transactions, rather than an individual’s name, this is a false perception. To the surprise of many, Bitcoin isn’t used on the darkweb anymore. It has been replaced with other privacy coins such as Monero. There are currently teams working to attribute Bitcoin public keys to their owners.

ZK-Snarks, short for “Zero Knowledge [Proof],” allows you to prove to others on the network you have the key without giving or showing them the key. How is it possible to prove you know something with giving out information? Here is an analogical example:

There are two pens, one is blue the other is red. John is an individual with normal eyesight, and Sally is a colorblind individual. John tells Sally he can tell the pens apart, but how can she tell if he is lying? Sally can put the pens behind her back, holding one pen in each hand, she can choose to switch the pens, or keep the in the same hand. If John can in fact differentiate them, when she reveals the pens, he should be able to tell her if she switched them or not. Even though Sally could not decipher the pens colors on her own, John was able to prove to Sally he could. “Lucky guess?” John had a 50% chance of getting it correct by simply guessing. However, if this was repeated 7 times, the likelihood of getting them all correct is less than 1%. ZK-Snarks cryptography is able to get this number to an effective 0% change of guessing.

Privacy coins allow for monetary transactions on the blockchain without showing its origin (senders public key), where it’s going (receivers public key), or the value of the transaction. This has become a popular trend, as we have seen future competitors such as Verge (XVG) surge from $0.005 to $0.30 in approximately 2 weeks.

Bitcoin Private Fork

Rhett Creighton received his bachelors in physics, as well as his masters in nuclear engineering from MIT. He was behind the ZCash -> ZClassic fork and is now leading the hybrid fork from ZClassic and Bitcoin to Bitcoin Private. Creighton is leading a team of blockchain engineers to integrate ZK-Snarks into Bitcoins source code, thus the reason and acceptance to use the “Bitcoin” name. Unlike many other coins, the progress is transparent and posted on https://github.com/heyrhett.To expedite the fork, the team is offering bounties in areas they are having trouble with. Blockchain engineers from around the world are encouraged to solve problems for a payout. He has continued to keep the community updated via twitter (@HeyRhett).

Distribution of Bitcoin Private:

For those who own one Zclassic, you will receive one Bitcoin Private. For those who own one Bitcoin, you will receive one Bitcoin Private (1:1 for both BTC and ZCL). When the fork date is announced, so will a snapshot block height. When that specific block is solved, a “snapshot” will be taken to record all ZCL and Bitcoin holders. In the proceeding days, Bitcoin Private (BTCP) will be airdropped to those holding ZCL. Not all exchanges will support this fork, so watch for confirmation from your exchanges to ensure you are storing your BTC/ZCL in the correct location to collect BTCP. In the proceeding days, BTCP will appear in your account for “free,” with zero loss of BTC or ZCL.

There are currently ≈3M ZCL’s and ≈16M BTC in circulation, leading to a total circulating supply of ≈19M BTCP. Approximately two million more are minable using ASIC resistant algorithms. Mining is attainable for at home miners with standard graphics cards, rather than the costly Bitcoin alternative where expensive hardware is required.

ZClassic Price Action:

Following the announcement of the BTCP fork, the price of ZCL surged to new all-time-highs. On December 7th, ZCL was trading at $2.00. One month later on January 7th, it peaked over $260. The largest US exchange, Binance, currently does not have ZCL listed. ZCL is only available on Bittrex (2nd largest US exchange) and Cryptopia, which has dampened the attention of this coin. Coincidentally, since around the fork date new user sign ups on Bittrex have been blocked due to their system not being able to handle the massive influx of new users and high transaction volume (hundreds of thousands of new users per day!). In my opinion, Binance will likely list ZCL when the fork date is announced to satisfy users, collect considerable transaction fees, and conclusively further legitimacy of the coin. It would be a foolish move for any exchange no not capitalize on a Bitcoin fork with new technology and enormous following.

So what does the current price of ZCL mean in regards to the future price of BTCP?

Although the BTCP fork is expected to happen during January or February, with tweets from Creighton stating “…so close we can almost taste it,” it remains a fork with minimum attention due to the previously stated dilemma of current exchanges supporting ZCL. Current price action indicates consumers’ willingness to pay for BTCP, due to the 1:1 fork; however, we must keep in mind the infancy of this project. Although ZCL has soared thousands of percents in just a few weeks, rapid volatility in cryptocurrencies has people overlooking the underlying cause. Many are continuing to overlook ZCL due to a general rule of thumb to not buy coins up thousands of percents, but do your due diligence on this one.

For those who want BTCP, it would make no sense for them to buy Bitcoin for the same 1:1 ratio. With Bitcoin currently sitting over $12,000, BTCP seekers will flock to ZCL (≈$150) for a much cheaper alternative.

While there have been many BTC forks throughout the last year, there are a few successful ones we are able to compare it to such as Bitcoin Gold (BTCG) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). In my opinion, the upside potential here is HUGE.

I have been watching the crypto space for about a year now, and an active investor for about eight months. I do not claim to be the know-all king here, so bear with me if I goofed up some terminology. This is a learning space for everyone to share ideas and draw attention to, what I believe to be, genius ideas!