Ycash, explained.

Ycash is a digital currency, in the same family as Bitcoin and Zcash. Its software is built on the Zcash codebase — which is itself built on Bitcoin — so it inherits years of battle-tested engineering rather than starting from scratch.

It also shares real history with Zcash: the first 570,000 blocks of the Ycash blockchain are identical to the first 570,000 blocks of Zcash. Ycash branched off on its own path from there, on 18 July 2019.

Like Bitcoin and Zcash, the total supply of Ycash is capped forever at 21 million coins. Unlike government-issued cash, there's no one who can simply print more — so inflation can't quietly erode what you hold.

Ycash upholds a promise that originated with Zcash: that the vast majority of coins should reach people through mining — not insiders.

Here's how the numbers work. From block 570,000 in 2019, 5% of each block reward went to the Ycash Development Fund to support ongoing work, with the other 95% going to miners. Across the full 21 million supply, that structure delivers 90% of all coins to users through open, free-market mining.

That changed at the second block reward halving in November 2024. The 5% development-fund donation became optional — miners can now keep the entire block reward, and the node software leaves the donation switched on at 5% by default unless a miner turns it off.

And because Ycash deliberately targets everyday hardware — rather than letting specialised mining rigs take over — that process stays open to ordinary people. Mining is one of the most important ways people take part in a currency's community, and Ycash works to keep that door open.