Grin and Zcash. Both hold similar attributes in the space and have emerged as the two leading figures in the space with their anonymous attributes and decentralised platforms, with Grin being a part of the Mimblewimble project. It seems a natural comparison to make. But, who is the king in this fight for supremacy?
We will set them against each other across three categories: Anonymity, User experience and Code
Table of Contents
Round 1: Anonymity
Grin appears to trump Zcash on this front. By default, all transactions in MimbleWimble are invisible, and at this point most of ZCash’s transactions appear to be visible transactions at this point. Grin is not perfect though, some of the time, the input-related output can still be traced. It is not clear what information can be derived from it. However, overall it would appear that Grin takes this in a convincing display
Grin 10-8
Round 2: User Experience
Another win for Grin here it would seem. Making transactions in MimbleWimble and verifying that they are computationally insignificant can be easily done on a smartphone. On the other hand, at the time of this writing, building an anonymous transaction for ZCash requires approximately 4GB of memory and approximately one minute of calculation, a lot more time consuming and difficult. Another round for Grin there.
Grin 10-9
Round 3: Code
Zcash is based on the Bitcoin Core code fork, which is a very mature (although difficult to maintain) code base and this in one way makes it less susceptible to failure. Grin’s green code is as clear and simple as possible, making future auditing and maintenance easier. This one is too close to call, but the maturity and reliability of Zcas must trump Grin here. Zcash comes fighting back and takes this round.
Zcash 10-9
Final Scorecard: Grin 29 Zcash 26
There you have it. It was a close contest, with Zcash appearing to fire back towards the end but Grin will have its hand raised by the referee at the end. Its usability and anonymity proving too strong for Zcash. However, judges don’t always get the scorecards right, let us know in the comments which you prefer!
