The Zcash (ZEC-USD) network is one of the hottest privacy cryptos right now. This is all thanks to the chatter washing over the broader privacy coin market. Love them or hate them, privacy coins have become a very popular avenue through which crypto holders can conduct completely anonymous, untraceable transactions. And this week, the use cases for Zcash grow even larger, thanks to the much-anticipated NU5 upgrade.

The Zcash chain is one of the leading privacy coin blockchains in the world, leading the market alongside Monero (XMR-USD). It uses a technology called zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge, or zk-SNARKs, to enable these private transactions. Essentially, zk-SNARKs allow users to prove the authenticity of their transactions to validators without having to reveal the actual data.

With this tech, Zcash provides its users with several different ways to conduct transactions. One can use a private address for wholly private transactions, or a non-private address for non-private transactions. Likewise, a user on one end of a transaction can obfuscate their identity, while the other user might choose not to. The model allows for plenty of options to best suit the needs of both parties in a given transaction.

Privacy coins generally have become much more popular this year. This comes as regulators around the globe look to crack down on digital assets. As the EU looks to implement know-your-customer (KYC) requirements for all crypto services in Europe, privacy coins like Zcash are becoming havens for holders who might not appreciate having their transactions so readily traceable.

Zcash Expands Privacy Coin Possibilities With NU5 Rollout

Zcash is continuing to build on the mounting interest in privacy coins this week. It’s doing this through its first upgrade since August of 2020, and the fifth major upgrade in the protocol’s history. Developers are even going so far as to say that the upgrade is a historically significant moment for crypto.

Two weeks ago, Zcash developers began hyping up the NU5 upgrade, which officially released on Tuesday. Most notably, the upgrade does away with the complex “ceremonies” the network needs to set up for each transaction; this obviously simplifies the mechanics behind data exchanges.

In addition to this change, the upgrade implements “Halo” proving, which allows users to make transactions across mobile devices. This will make Zcash the first mobile-enabled privacy coin network, which is quite obviously a huge step for the industry.

While the upgrade takes shape, it isn’t having much of an effect on ZEC-USD crypto prices. Since taking effect on the chain, prices have been largely trading sideways; this afternoon, the coin is down by about 4%.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.