Zcash developers target January for quantum-resistant payment upgrade

quantum-resistant payment upgrade — Developers of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) have set a January target to introduce quantum-resistant protections for its transparent transactions, following recent security warnings.

The plan focuses on adding support for hash-based signatures to safeguard payments on the public ledger, which currently holds roughly 70% of all issued ZEC tokens. A specific date for activating the upgrade on the main network has not yet been finalized.

The move comes after developers raised a “bunker mode” alert in recent weeks, urging users to move funds from older, potentially vulnerable addresses. The upgrade is seen as a proactive step against future threats from quantum computing, which could theoretically break current cryptographic security.

Separately, the team behind Zakura, a program for running the Zcash network, has developed a private balance lookup tool. This experimental feature, available in the Vizor wallet, allows users to check balances without revealing which addresses are linked together to a server, adding another layer of privacy.