TL;DR
- Ycash officially launched at Zcash block height 570,000 on July 18, 2019, as the network’s first “friendly fork”
- All Zcash holders at the time of the fork automatically received an equal amount of Ycash
- The new chain reduces the Founders Reward from 20% to a perpetual 5% and redirects funds to a nonprofit foundation
- Ycash plans to change its Proof of Work algorithm to enable mining on consumer CPUs and GPUs
- The Electric Coin Company, Zcash’s creator, stated it does not endorse or support the fork
The Zcash ecosystem experienced a significant milestone on July 18, 2019, as the Ycash Foundation officially launched Ycash — the first-ever “friendly fork” of the Zcash blockchain. The fork occurred at block height 570,000, and every Zcash holder at the moment of the split received an identical amount of Ycash tokens, requiring only possession of their private keys to claim the new coins.
What Is Ycash and Why Did It Fork?
Ycash emerged from a philosophical disagreement within the Zcash community about the direction of the project. The newly formed nonprofit Ycash Foundation positioned the fork as a return to two foundational promises that its creators believed were at risk: mining on commodity hardware and a strict cap on the Founders Reward.
The Zcash Founders Reward originally allocated 20% of all mined coins to founders, investors, and the Electric Coin Company. Ycash’s creators argued that this reward structure, combined with the growing dominance of specialized mining hardware, was undermining the fair distribution of coins — a principle they consider essential for long-term adoption.
At launch, Ycash implemented two key changes. First, the Founders Reward rate was reduced from 20% to a perpetual 5%, which the foundation says exactly preserves the original 2.1 million coin cap on the reward. Second, all remaining Founders Reward funds were redirected entirely to the Ycash Foundation, a newly created nonprofit entity tasked with stewarding the project’s development.
A Commitment to Decentralized Mining
Perhaps the most ambitious change planned for Ycash is a shift in its Proof of Work algorithm. At the time of the fork, Zcash used the Equihash algorithm, which had become increasingly dominated by application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), effectively locking out everyday users with consumer hardware.
The Ycash Foundation committed to implementing a mining algorithm more conducive to commodity hardware — including standard CPUs and GPUs. Approaches under evaluation included RandomX, ProgPOW, and various modified versions of Equihash. The foundation stated this change would ideally be implemented by late October 2019, around the time of Zcash’s Blossom upgrade.
This commitment to accessible mining was paired with a broader set of founding principles. Ycash pledged to preserve the 21 million coin cap on total supply, maintain pure Proof of Work mining until at least the second block reward halving — by which point 75% of all coins would have been mined — and never differentially timelock coins.
The Electric Coin Company’s Stance
The relationship between Ycash and the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the creators of Zcash, was cordial but clearly bounded. On July 12, 2019, just days before the fork, the ECC released a statement acknowledging Ycash as a “friendly fork” while explicitly stating they do not support or endorse the new chain. The Ycash project, for its part, emphasized its complete independence from both the ECC and the Zcash Foundation.
Despite the divergence, Ycash planned to continue leveraging Zcash’s technological backbone. The project committed to incorporating most changes made to Zcash, particularly advancements in zero-knowledge proof infrastructure. Only in areas of substantial disagreement would Ycash chart its own course.
Market Context
The fork occurred amid a broader crypto market rally on July 18, 2019. Bitcoin was trading at approximately $10,666, up nearly 10% in 24 hours, while Zcash was priced around $79.60, up roughly 5.7% on the day. The total cryptocurrency market was experiencing renewed optimism following a prolonged bear market, with major altcoins posting significant gains across the board.
ZecWallet, the primary user-facing wallet for Zcash, was also forked to support Ycash, with official builds provided for all supported platforms. The Ycash Foundation also began the process of trademark registration, starting in the United States with plans for additional jurisdictions.
Why This Matters
Ycash represents one of the earliest examples of a “friendly fork” in the cryptocurrency space — a chain split motivated not by acrimony or contested governance, but by genuine philosophical differences about how a blockchain should serve its community. The project’s focus on restoring commodity hardware mining and capping developer rewards speaks to a persistent tension in crypto between professionalization and decentralization. While Ycash’s long-term impact remains to be seen, its July 2019 launch highlights the ongoing debate within privacy coin communities about who gets to mine, who gets paid, and who ultimately controls a blockchain’s direction.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
reducing founders reward from 20% to 5% was the whole point. that 20% tax was indefensible from day one
the 20% founders reward wasnt a tax it was venture funding disguised as protocol design. at least Ycash tried to fix that
friendly fork that nobody uses anymore. Ycash has like 3 miners and zero volume. the principle was right but execution was dead on arrival
zooko_fan calling 3 miners is generous lol. the CPU mining pivot never materialized and equihash ASICs came anyway
great ideology, zero adoption. reducing founders reward was the right call but the market doesnt reward principles. execution and community matter more than being right
cutting founders reward from 20 to 5 percent was the right move. that 20 percent tax on every block was indefensible and ecc opposing the fork tells you who benefited
fork_this calling zero adoption 5 years later is harsh but accurate. principles dont pay developers or maintain hash security
fork_this disagree on zero adoption. the founders reward cut from 20 to 5 percent was a template for every fair launch since. zooko ignored it and zcash slowly bled relevance
fork_this calling zero adoption is funny now. the founders reward cut was a template for every fair launch since. zcash bled relevance while ycash at least tried
Founders Reward from 20% to 5% was the right call. 20% of block rewards going to founders and investors was unsustainable. Zcash community should have done it sooner
friendly fork is such a nice way to say we disagree with the direction. ECC not endorsing it tells you everything about who benefits from the status quo
ECC not endorsing Ycash was telling. the 20% founders reward funded ECC directly, of course they opposed cutting it to 5%
finally a coin where i can mine with my gaming rig without asics eating my lunch. this is what zcash should have been
cpu_miner_42 you could mine Ycash on a GPU for about 6 months before the algo change got abandoned. it was fun while it lasted
the CPU mining pitch was appealing but ASIC resistance never lasts. look at what happened to monero, they had to hard fork multiple times
monero had to hard fork what, 5+ times to stay ahead of ASICs. its an endless arms race that burns developer resources. ASIC resistance is a mirage long term
Yuki T. monero hard forked for ASIC resistance and it worked. 5 forks later randomx is still CPU only. saying its a mirage ignores the one chain that actually pulled it off
alma_r monero proved CPU mining can work with RandomX but equihash was never going to stay ASIC resistant. wrong algo from the start
forking at block 570000 with automatic airdrop to zcash holders was clean execution. shame the cpu mining pivot never materialized
block 570000 was clean execution. every zcash holder got ycash automatically, no claiming nonsense. shame the cpu mining algo pivot died
cutting Founders Reward from 20% to 5% was the right call. Zcash miners were literally funding ECC salaries while the token bled 95%
Zdenek P. except Ycash proceeded to dump 90% anyway. changing the founder tax doesnt fix the fundamental problem of zero adoption and zero liquidity
friendly fork is such a nice euphemism for we copied your chain and took your holders. ECC not endorsing it tells you everything about how friendly it actually was
zooko and the ECC fought ycash because cutting founders reward from 20 to 5 percent meant less money for them. follow the incentives
fork_or_die_ exactly. ECC fought ycash because 20% to 5% meant their funding got cut. follow the money