ZetaPeakThe new Zakura nodes caught up with the network in just over six hours in Gemini’s deployments. The crypto exchange’s previous software took close to a day.
Winklevoss-owned Gemini switches Zcash software ahead of faster 25-second blocks
The new Zakura nodes caught up with the network in just over six hours in Gemini’s deployments. The crypto exchange’s previous software took close to a day.
Gemini replaced Zebra with Zakura to run its Zcash systems, cutting the time needed to catch up with the network from nearly a day to just over six hours. The switch comes before Zcash’s planned NU7 upgrade, which would reduce block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds and require network computers to process transactions three times as often. Developers are targeting Nov. 5 for the mainnet upgrade, though Gemini has not published tests showing how Zakura performs under the faster schedule.
Crypto exchange Gemini (GEMI) has switched the software running its Zcash systems ahead of a planned upgrade that would make new blocks, the batches of transactions added to the network, arrive every 25 seconds instead of 75.
The exchange now uses Zakura, a program that follows Zcash and checks its transaction history. Gemini said Tuesday that Zakura caught up with the latest block in a little over six hours during its deployments. Zebra, the program it used before, took close to a day.
That six-hour result measures how quickly a computer can catch up after starting or falling behind. Zakura's developers published a separate test that took four hours and 20 minutes, against nearly 21 hours for Zebra.
They also provide a saved copy of recent network data that can bring a replacement computer online without downloading Zcash's history from the beginning. In their test, that approach was about 680 times faster than a standard sync.
Gemini is controlled by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, whose Zcash interests extend beyond the exchange.
Their investment firm led a $59 million financing of Cypherpunk Technologies, a publicly traded company that holds and mines ZEC. A Winklevoss affiliate sold Cypherpunk a Zcash mining fleet for $33 million in August, and Cypherpunk says Gemini handles trading and custody for its ZEC holdings.
Read More: A Winklevoss-backed Zcash mining bet is on track to hit $125 million a year
Why it matters for traders
Every exchange that lists a cryptocurrency runs its own computer following that network. Sending ZEC to Gemini does not make it immediately tradable, because that computer first has to find the payment on Zcash and verify it before crediting the customer's account.
If the computer crashes or falls behind, the coins can arrive while the customer's balance stays empty, and exchanges typically pause deposits and withdrawals for that coin until it catches up. How long that pause lasts depends largely on how quickly a replacement can rebuild its copy of the network.
Zcash's coming upgrade, called NU7, would shorten the time between blocks from 75 seconds to 25, so computers following the network would have to receive and check new batches three times as often. Developers are targeting Nov. 5 for the change.
Gemini has not published a test of how the new setup performs under NU7's faster block schedule. NU7 is scheduled to reach Zcash's test network on Oct. 6, and developers plan to decide on the Nov. 5 mainnet activation after seeing the results.
Read More: Zcash targets November upgrade to make private payments up to three times faster
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Beyond the Risk-Free Rate: Diversified Real World Yield in Productive Stablecoins
Beyond the Risk-Free Rate: Diversified Real World Yield in Productive Stablecoins
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
Why it matters:
Diversified RWA stablecoins sustain 5-7% yield from real credit as crypto funding compresses to ~4%. GENIUS pushes yield off-chain; TAM grows to $4B in 3 years.
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