Zcash Exercises Restraint as the Antminer Z11 Release Approaches

Bitmain, the largest manufacturer of mining equipment, recently revealed the Antminer Z11 device for mining Zcash and other cryptocurrencies based on the Equihash algorithm, as reported by Cointelegraph on March 19.

Despite the fact that the Zcash team declined to comment on this news, the release of the Z11 produced mixed reactions among community members.

In 2017, after Bitmain's dominance of the ASIC market reached a peak with the release of Bitcoin mining equipment, the Chinese giant set about developing specialized chips for mining other coins with large market capitalizations, such as Ethereum, SiaCoin, Monero and Zcash.

On May 3, 2018, Bitmain announced the release of the Z9 mini model for mining Zcash and other coins based on the Equihash algorithm.

"To preserve the Zcash community's values around security, reliability and accessibility, Bitmain had previously Tweeted real-time updates to ensure more transparency and will continue to provide shipping updates of the first batch of the Antminer Z11. These commitments to transparency will continue to provide the Zcash foundation and community with the security, reliability and accessibility they desire of manufacturers."

On the official forum, Zcash moderators raised an entire discussion to find out who managed to buy new ASICs and for how much.

Despite the fact that the main sales are oriented to those who want to mine Zcash - the most liquid coin using the Equihash algorithm - it will be possible to use the Antminer Z11 to get other assets working on the same principle.

Despite the lack of drastic action on the part of Zcash developers, the team began to explore the potential and possible danger of new ASIC devices immediately after the release of Antminer Z9. On May 8, 2018, Zcash CEO Josh Cincinnati announced a plan for prioritizing ASIC resistance, and he indicated that the team considered the implementation of these measures as one of the methods in combating ASIC hardware.

Another ASIC resistance strategy appeared in the course of the annual grant program for Zcash developers.

The Zcash hashrate support is largely due to its ASIC is the most profitability miners among all.