Tron, the blockchain platform fronted by Justin Sun, has announced the date of its long awaited upgrade. Tron 4.0 will launch on July 7, complete with an advanced privacy feature known as zk-SNARKs, as peran announcement by the TRONZ Foundation on Saturday.
“This will mark the first time in history where zk-SNARKs will be implemented on a blockchain-powered by smart-contracts,” the announcement stated.
Announcement📢 Extremely excited to announce the #TRONZ Smart Contract Privacy Protocol, an integral part of the #TRON 4.0 protocol, will officially go live on July 7th, 2020!🚀
zk-SNARKs are the core privacy technology of the ZCash blockchain. The privacy feature ensures that a transaction can be made without revealing information such as the amount of money being sent. In fact, a January investigation by CoinTelegraph revealed that the code being used in Tron 4.0 appears to be entirelycopied from ZCash.
However, unlike ZCash, Tron’s version will not make transactions using its TRX cryptocurrency anonymously. Instead, developers can adopt a shielded transaction feature by implementing the smart contract, according to the TRONZ announcement. It added that compliance with global regulations and policiesare the main reasons privacy is a stand-alone feature.
Justin Sun, the wealthy CEO of the TRON Foundation, has called the cops on those responsible for splitting from his newly-bought blockchain-based social network, Steemit.
In March, those unhappy with his rule forked the Steem blockchain to form a new one, Hive. Sun has now retaliated and used his immense power on the network to vote in favor of a hard fork that takes around $5 million worth of funds out of the defectors’ wallets. It takes place today.
He’s also called up the law:
“We are workin...
Other features included in the upgrade—in development for almost a year—are faster block confirmation times; cross-chain confirmation, and enterprise-grade customized solutions for businesses—“a major step towards getting more businesses on the blockchain platform,” according to the announcement.
Sun first spoke about his intention tointroduce zk-SNARKs into the Tron network in 2018. Announcing the news on Twitter, he said the launch marks a key moment in Tron’s evolution.
After nearly a year in development, TRONZ's Smart Contract Privacy Protocol will finally be released as an integral part of #TRON 4.0 protocol on July 7.
Its launch will mark a definitive moment for the history and evolution of #TRON blockchain🔥 https://t.co/n9DE3vTWt6
The platform has been showingsteady growth in recent months, with its user base up 33% compared to January 2019.
Tron 4.0 comes at an exciting time for smart contract blockchain platforms. With rival, Ethereum getting ready for stage one of its 2.0 launch later this year, and Cardano’sShelley testnet due to launch tomorrow, it’s time to put them all to the test.
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