A Fourth of July Declaration of Independence by the Ycash Foundation
We are now under two weeks away from the Ycash/Zcash chain fork, which will occur at block height 570,000. As we are celebrating the Fourth of July today here in the United States — a holiday commemorating the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 — we would like to take this opportunity to declare Ycash’s independence.
Specifically, we declare Ycash’s independence from: (1) the ASIC mining that currently dominates the Zcash network; and (2) the efforts currently underway to abandon the pre-launch Zcash promise that 90% of the Zcash money supply was to be allocated to users via the free market mining process.
With yesterday’s release of Ycash Version 1.0, there now exists a path forward — a path originating from the Zcash Genesis Block — that honors both the goal of mining on commodity hardware and the 90% Allocation Promise.
We have already made it very clear that the Ycash Foundation is completely independent from two key entities in the Zcash ecosystem: the Electric Coin Company and the Zcash Foundation. This independence has been publicly reiterated by both the ECC and the Zcash Foundation, and neither entity was informed about Ycash prior to the public launch announcement on April 11. The Ycash Foundation is an independent entity that views the ECC and Zcash Foundation as important potential allies (albeit larger and more established than the upstart Ycash Foundation).
The “friendly fork” label has caused some confusion. A friendly fork is about “agreeing to disagree” — without needless acrimony and without needlessly splitting a user community — while at the same time continuing to work together to further shared interests. Already, some of the most important contributors to the young Ycash project are also important contributors to the Zcash ecosystem. These individuals understand that, in spite of some disagreements on fundamental issues, there are still significant opportunities for collaboration. We envision that a significant number of users will hold and use both Ycash and Zcash.
At the same time, the release of Ycash Version 1.0 is an act of protest. Just as those participating in the Boston Tea Party in 1773 rallied around the battle cry of “no taxation without representation”, Ycash Version 1.0 is a rallying point for those interested in mining on commodity hardware and those who invested in Zcash based in part on the 90% Allocation Promise.
Regardless of your views on these issues, we invite everyone to run Ycash Version 1.0 and join the Ycash network. We envision that a significant number of users will run both Ycash and Zcash full nodes.
Happy Fourth of July, and thank you for considering Ycash.
For more information about Ycash, visit the Ycash Foundation website.
