Helius' Mert responded to criticism of Zcash and criticized the Bitcoin community for abandoning privacy

Helius developer Mert harshly criticized a segment of the Bitcoin community that, in his view, is abandoning privacy principles. In his statement, he noted that many market participants are beginning to promote off-chain databases instead of using the blockchain, which, he said, is a worrying sign.

Zcash Criticism and Unreasonable Arguments

Mert emphasized that criticism of Zcash in the context of privacy is often based on unreasonable arguments. He recalled that he began discussing this topic back when the Zcash token price was below $18. In his opinion, many misunderstandings surrounding Zcash stem from misinterpretations of its functionality.

Privacy by Default

One of the key aspects Mert highlighted in his presentation is that privacy is a default feature in Zcash, not an option. This developer solution enables privacy to be scaled globally, making Zcash unique among cryptocurrencies. He also noted that activity in the Zcash shielded pool has reached historical highs, demonstrating growing interest in privacy.

Efficiency of the Governance Mechanism

Mert also discussed the Zcash project's token-based governance mechanism. He noted that without this mechanism, the project would not have achieved its current success. According to him, the token distribution share decreases after each halving, which also impacts the project's sustainability and development.

Zcash Scalability

Responding to criticism that Zcash is incapable of scaling, Mert stated that the project can be scaled at least 100-fold. He mentioned improvement plans, including faster blocks, increased TPS (transactions per second), and the implementation of the Tachyon upgrade. These measures are aimed at structurally improving network performance and respond to criticism.

Privacy as the Foundation of the Ecosystem

Mert expressed hope that with growing interest in Zcash, the Bitcoin community will begin to take privacy issues more seriously. He called off-chain solutions a weak alternative to full-fledged privacy mechanisms and emphasized that the blockchain's base layer must have robust privacy tools.

Imbalance in Approaches

According to Mert, the current imbalance in approaches to privacy is hindering the development of the ecosystem. The Zcash Inside community supported his arguments, pointing to the transition to an opt-in transparency model and technologies that can improve privacy in cryptocurrency transactions.

In Conclusion

Mert called for a more serious discussion of privacy issues in the cryptocurrency space, emphasizing that it is a critical aspect for the future of the industry.