[ANN][WEC] Wcash — zk‑SNARK‑shielded PoW privacy coin

[cor418]

What is Wcash?

Wcash is a Zcash-family, Equihash (200,9) Proof-of-Work chain with:

• No dev / foundation tax  
• Miner-only block rewards (no protocol cut)  
• Community open-source project
• Zcash-style shielded pools (Sprout, Sapling, Orchard)  
• Rust / Zebra-based node implementation  

Website: https://w.cash
Mining guide: https://w.cash/mine
Pool directory (community-run): https://wcashpools.com

The intent is to provide a pure-PoW option in the Zcash technical family for miners who want:

• Equihash (200,9)  
• zk-SNARK-based privacy  
• A distribution where every block reward is earned hashpower

The chain is live.

Genesis & current status

• Genesis block: 2025-10-28 07:56:00 UTC  
• Network: mainnet, live and producing blocks

Monetary policy & distribution

• Ticker: WEC  
• Supply cap: 21,000,000 WEC (Bitcoin/Zcash-style halving curve)  
• Halving interval: 1,680,000 blocks (~4 years at 75s)
• Target block time: ~75 seconds  
• Current block subsidy: 6.25 WEC (halves over time)

Distribution rules:

• All issuance occurs as mainnet block subsidies under PoW.  
• There is no initial pre-allocation defined in the protocol.  
• There is no consensus rule diverting subsidy to any team, company, or foundation.  
• 100% of each block subsidy and fees is paid to the miner that finds the block.

The idea is to let hashrate and distribution grow organically rather than front‑loading a large share into a single day or entity.

Issuance:

• All existing WEC has been created as block subsidies on mainnet via Proof-of-Work.  
• There was no ICO or token sale.  
• There is no protocol-level founder or foundation reward.

GPU/ASIC/CPU pool infrastructure is described openly and anyone can run their own pool or join a community one.

The full history from block 0 is auditable via the explorer or a full node.

Protocol & consensus

• Protocol family: Zcash (Bitcoin-derived, zk-SNARK shielded pools)  
• Consensus: Nakamoto-style Proof-of-Work  
• Hash algorithm: Equihash (n = 200, k = 9)  
• Transaction types: transparent + shielded, Unified Addresses, Unified Full Viewing Keys (UFVKs)

Wcash is an independent chain in the Zcash technical family with its own genesis and parameters. It does not represent any official position of Zcash-related organizations; it simply keeps a PoW-only, miner-paid variant available.

Motivation: PoW home for Equihash miners

• A pure-PoW chain with Zcash-style privacy (shielded pools, Unified Addresses)  
• A chain with miner-only rewards (no protocol-level dev/foundation tax)  
• A place where Equihash (200,9) GPU/ASIC fleets can point hashpower if they prefer PoW-only economics

Nothing here changes ZEC’s roadmap. Wcash is separate and community-run.

Miner privacy: UFVK rotation & auto-shield CLI

The node supports a miner workflow built around Unified Full Viewing Keys (UFVKs):

• Miners configure a UFVK in the node.  
• For each block height, the node deterministically derives a fresh Unified Address from that UFVK.  
• Each block reward goes to a unique address derived from the UFVK.  
• The UFVK allows view-only auditing of all these addresses; spending keys remain with the mnemonic/seed.

On top of this, there is an optional auto-shield CLI (`wallet.zip`):

• Watches for matured coinbase outputs associated with the UFVK.  
• Waits for a randomized delay window.  
• Batches them into shielded transactions.  
• Sweeps rewards into a miner-controlled shielded receiver.

Goal: make “fresh addresses + shielding” the easy default for miners:

• Less address reuse in payouts  
• Stronger shielded pool  
• Cleaner miner accounting via a single UFVK

The auto-shield CLI is tooling only, not a consensus rule. Using it is optional.

Mining: CPU, GPU, ASIC

Algorithm: Equihash (n = 200, k = 9), same parameters as Zcash.  
Hardware: CPU, GPU, and Equihash (200,9) ASICs are all compatible at the protocol level.

Note on the internal miner:

The built-in CPU miner in the Wcash node is primarily a reference implementation and convenience tool. It is suitable for solo mining in the early, low-hashrate phase and for testing, but it is not a highly optimized miner.

As dedicated GPU and Equihash (200,9) ASIC miners and pools come online, they will achieve much higher hashrates than the internal CPU miner. Miners should expect the mining landscape to shift over time from mostly CPU solo mining toward GPU/ASIC rigs pointed at pools or self-hosted infrastructure.

In the early phase:

• Mainnet has been running at modest hashrate.  
• Difficulty has been low enough that solo CPU miners could participate meaningfully.  
• GPU/ASIC pool infrastructure is now documented and available for anyone to run, so hashrate growth can be more gradual rather than a one-day spike.

The project encourages many small pools and solo miners instead of a few large operators.

Quick start: solo mining (CPU)

Very short overview (full guide at https://w.cash/mine):

1. Download node bundle (`wcash.zip`)  
   • From: https://w.cash/downloads  
   • Contains node source, configs, and internal CPU miner.

2. Build:
cargo build --release

3. Generate keys:
cargo run -p zcash-keygen --bin zcash-keygen -- --mnemonic

4. Configure mining (example: configs/wcash/mainnet-wcash.toml):
[mining.deterministic_reward]
unified_full_viewing_key = "uview1..."
height_offset = 0

5. Start node with internal miner:
cargo run --release --features internal-miner --bin zebrad -- \
  --config configs/wcash/local-mainnet-wcash.toml start

The default config ships with a small set of bootstrap peers to help new nodes discover the network. They are not special in consensus and can be replaced or removed; once connected, nodes learn additional peers via gossip.

Running your own pool (GPU / ASIC)

To avoid relying on any closed or single-vendor pool infrastructure, W.cash ships:
• A stratum/RPC extension for the node (Equihash, z_getminingjob)
• An adapted pool implementation packaged as pool.zip

Both are released publicly so anyone can run a pool compatible with the current Wcash / Zcash-style chain.

1. Run the node in stratum / pool mode

Start the node with getblocktemplate-rpcs enabled to expose z_getminingjob:

cargo run --release --features "internal-miner,getblocktemplate-rpcs" --bin zebrad -- \
  -c configs/wcash/mainnet-stratum.toml start

2. Use the pool template (pool.zip)
From https://w.cash/downloads:

pool.zip — adapted s-nomp pool with W.cash / Equihash (200,9) support

Unpack, install dependencies, and configure:
coins/wcash.json — Equihash (200,9), useZGetMiningJob: true
pool_configs/wcash.json — RPC host/port, stratum port, payout transparent address

Then start the pool and point miners at it using the usual taddr.worker / x format.

Full step-by-step instructions (including Ubuntu setup, Node 8.11, Redis, etc.) are in the mining guide:

https://w.cash/mine

Pool operators control their own mnemonic/payout wallet and can decide their own fee structure.

Community pool

Alongside DIY pools, a public community pool is being prepared under the wcash.powpools.com banner so miners who do not want to run their own infrastructure have somewhere to connect.

Details and status for this and any other community pools will be shared in replies to this thread as they come online. The aim is to have multiple independent pools, not a single dominant one.

Explorer, docs & tools

• Website / protocol info: https://w.cash
• Explorer: https://w.cash/explorer
• Mining guide (full instructions): https://w.cash/mine
• Downloads (zips): https://w.cash/downloads
– wcash.zip — node + configs + internal miner
– wallet.zip — wcash wallet & auto-shield CLI & UFVK mining stats / distribution analysis
– pool.zip — W.cash-enabled s-nomp template
• Whitepaper (PDF): linked from https://w.cash
• Community: https://reddit.com/r/wcash


Governance & “who owns this?”

• W.cash is presented as a community project.
• There is no public founder identity and no protocol-level funding stream.
• The website and initial bootstrap infrastructure exist to make the network easier to join, not as a governance mechanism.
• Over time, if the community wishes to appoint stewards (multisig, foundation, elected group, etc.), domains and infra can be handed over, with any transition clearly communicated (including on-chain memos if appropriate).

Ultimately, what matters is what code miners and full nodes choose to run.

Get involved

• Run a full node and help secure the network.
• Solo mine with CPU, or point GPU/ASIC rigs at a self-hosted or community pool.
• Use UFVK rotation and auto-shield if you care about miner privacy.
• Launch your own pool using pool.zip and keep hashrate decentralized.
• Mirror the source (e.g. host your own repo built from the published zip releases), contribute fixes, and maintain independent builds so the implementation is not tied to any single server or account.
• Join /r/wcash or other spaces to coordinate explorers, wallets, libraries.

Use it, mine it, build on it, or ignore it — the network’s future depends on whoever decides to participate.

[cor418]

This reply is just an index so miners don’t have to scroll through the whole OP.

• Website / protocol info: https://w.cash
• Downloads (node, auto-shield, pool template, stats): https://w.cash/downloads
• Mining guide (solo CPU + pool operator how-to): https://w.cash/mine
• Explorer / chain history: via the EXPLORER link on https://w.cash
• Whitepaper (PDF): linked from the homepage at https://w.cash
• Community: https://reddit.com/r/wcash

Wcash is Equihash (200,9) + pers=ZcashPoW.
Equihash variants map (Wcash listed): https://equihash.com/

Community pools
https://wcashpools.com/

As independent pools come online, operators can post their endpoints and details in this thread.

• wcash.powpools.com (community-run)
  
  Stratum (Equihash 200,9):  
  

Code:

stratum+tcp://wcash.powpools.com:5555

Payout address: Unified Address (recommended)
Worker format:

Code:

<Unified Address>.<workername

 
Password:

Code:

x

[visibleplayer]

All blocks found on explorer going to different wallet addresses   Have not found a single wallet address with more than one block   Too many rigs were rented on mining rig rentals  
Already 50k+ blocks

[cor418]

Interesting observation.

The “every block to a different address” thing actually very similar to other PoW launches where there was a lot of miner interest very quickly (Litecoin, for example, had a big chunk of its first 10k blocks mined in a very short window because people piled in fast).

The node and docs provide a default setup where miners use a Unified Full Viewing Key (UFVK) and let the software rotate payout addresses per block as a best practice. If miners follow that, the explorer will naturally show:

- many unique addresses, each with one block, and
- no obvious t-addr repeating over and over

That’s actually what the UFVK rotation is supposed to do: avoid simple address reuse and encourage better miner hygiene.

[cor418]

Public community pool is online for anyone who prefers pool mining over solo CPU, or who wants to start mining without spinning up their own stratum/pool infrastructure.

Details are in the index post above under Community pools.

[WebDais]

Public community pool is online for anyone who prefers pool mining over solo CPU, or who wants to start mining without spinning up their own stratum/pool infrastructure.

Details are in the index post above under Community pools.

Shares accepted but no payout.

[cor418]

Public community pool is online for anyone who prefers pool mining over solo CPU, or who wants to start mining without spinning up their own stratum/pool infrastructure.

Details are in the index post above under Community pools.

Shares accepted but no payout.

A couple of details on how payouts work right now:

• Wcash inherits Zcash-style coinbase maturity. Newly mined blocks (coinbase rewards) are locked for a number of blocks before they become spendable on-chain. Until a block’s coinbase has matured, the pool can’t actually send it out as a payout.  

• At ~75 seconds per block, 100 blocks is roughly 2 hours. In practice you should think in terms of a couple of hundred blocks (coinbase maturity + some safety margin and shielding) from “block found” to “funds actually usable for payout” at the pool level.

• The pool only started recently and has found very few blocks so far. That means most or all of the reward is still in the “immature” state on-chain, so you will see accepted shares but no paid-out balance yet. That’s expected until the first coinbase outputs mature.

• Once coinbases mature, the pool sends payouts in batches to the addresses that contributed shares for those blocks. Payouts are not instant-per-share; they are based on found blocks and happen after on-chain maturity.

• Pool's payouts run daily at 00:00 UTC. Shares are per-block, not a rolling share window, so your shares on a found block aren’t diluted over time; once that block’s coinbase matures, it’s included in the next payout batch.

• If you prefer full control, you can run your own stratum node/pool. Blocks you find will pay directly to the addresses you configure (under your own mnemonic/wallet). That removes any dependency on this pool’s payout schedule while keeping the same chain rules (coinbase maturity applies either way).

Payout happens daily.
00:00 UTC time.

[cor418]

For anyone mining on wcash.powpools.com who wants to verify accounting, there is now a simple payout / shares lookup page:

http://wcash.powpools.com

Paste your Unified Address/Shielded pub key (u19rv4...7a34vl) and it will show the blocks your worker contributed to,
your recorded shares per height, and whether those rewards are marked as "upcoming" or already included in a payout batch.

[WebDais]

For anyone mining on wcash.powpools.com who wants to verify accounting, there is now a simple payout / shares lookup page:

http://wcash.powpools.com

Paste your Unified Address/Shielded pub key (u19rv4...7a34vl) and it will show the blocks your worker contributed to,
your recorded shares per height, and whether those rewards are marked as "upcoming" or already included in a payout batch.

Have been mining since last day but in wcash.powpools.com it says 
Results
Error loading data. Check console.
Failed to load data.

[cor418]

The payout / shares page expects a plain Unified Address (the `u1…` string) or a prefix of it, not the full login string used on the pool.

For example, for a worker search like:

Code:

u1xxxxxxxx........yyyyyyyy.worker

the part after the dot (`.worker`) is only for the stratum worker name.  
For the lookup, the input should be just the Unified Address:

Code:

u1xxxxxxxx........yyyyyyyy

Input all Unified Address to query.

A few points:

• The lookup only returns rows for addresses that have submitted shares in rounds where this pool actually found a block.  
• When a valid Unified Address with such shares is entered, the result is a list of heights, worker labels, shares and a status flag (“upcoming” or “paid”).  

If the unified key used for mining is pasted without the `.worker` suffix and without extra characters or spaces, the page should either:

• show the rounds where that address contributed shares to blocks found by the pool, or  
• return an empty result set if there are none yet, without a hard error.

[cor418]

For anyone mining on wcash.powpools.com who wants to verify accounting, there is now a simple payout / shares lookup page:

http://wcash.powpools.com

Paste your Unified Address/Shielded pub key (u19rv4...7a34vl) and it will show the blocks your worker contributed to,
your recorded shares per height, and whether those rewards are marked as "upcoming" or already included in a payout batch.

Have been mining since last day but in wcash.powpools.com it says  
Results
Error loading data. Check console.
Failed to load data.

Example:
Results
Found 1 matching worker entries

Worker                           Shares   WEC                   Status
u1ay3ewxnhuu….worker1   9.500000   2.18096127   paid

But there are much more entries with a different worker name.

pass your Unified Address (example u1sj2f5w8ut2dhkck85x9q2s3zj42le2958pejprlmwkutz9qyj2wpezgazjlem5a467k2hh02ynmlw x3ecy22jtyt9af3lsalvkmswpkvw494qgfm2jmk7kr65yhxcumlm2sj2zqzz43)
to see shares and status

[cor418]

For anyone mining on wcash.powpools.com who wants to verify accounting, there is now a simple payout / shares lookup page:

http://wcash.powpools.com

Paste your Unified Address/Shielded pub key (u19rv4...7a34vl) and it will show the blocks your worker contributed to,
your recorded shares per height, and whether those rewards are marked as "upcoming" or already included in a payout batch.

Have been mining since last day but in wcash.powpools.com it says 
Results
Error loading data. Check console.
Failed to load data.

you may check your wallet balance. Shielded address already received pool's payout.

[candymi_001]

I use Lolminer to connect to the community mining pool using EQUI200_9 and EQUI192_7 algorithms. I can receive tasks from the mining pool and calculate them normally, but the rejection rate has reached 100%. Which step am I doing wrong?

[candymi_001]

The EQUI210_9 used is not EQUI200_9, and the EQUI200_9 hoe does not recognize it

[cor418]

I use Lolminer to connect to the community mining pool using EQUI200_9 and EQUI192_7 algorithms. I can receive tasks from the mining pool and calculate them normally, but the rejection rate has reached 100%. Which step am I doing wrong?

Wcash is Equihash (200,9) (same PoW parameters as Zcash). It is not 192/7 and not 210/9.

If your miner is set to the wrong Equihash instance (192/7 or 210/9), the pool will reject every share.
The pool-side error like “incorrect len” is exactly what you get when the miner submits a solution blob of the wrong size (wrong n/k → wrong solution length/format).

So 100% rejects usually means one of these:

Wrong algo selected (e.g. EQUI192_7 or EQUI210_9).

Your miner probably doesn’t actually support Equihash(200,9), even if it “connects and receives jobs”.

On lolMiner specifically: upstream lolMiner builds commonly list EQUI192_7 / EQUI210_9 / EQUI144_5, but not Equihash(200,9) (Zcash). If your lolMiner does not explicitly support (200,9), it will never submit valid Wcash shares.

Working baseline test (NVIDIA): EWBF Zcash miner (0.3.4b)
If you point a real Zcash (200,9) miner at the pool, you should see accepted shares immediately (aside from occasional stales).

Code:

./miner
--server wcash.powpools.com
--port 5555
--user <u1YOUR_UNIFIED_ADDRESS>.<workername>
--pass x
--pec
--templimit 78

This is not a pool issue. The pool is already finding blocks and paying.

Proof (paid round example from the pool payout lookup):

Worker: u1ay3ewxnhuu….worker1
Shares: 9.500000
WEC: 2.18096127
Status: paid

If you want to double-check what lolMiner can do, run:

Code:

lolMiner -h

…and verify whether it actually lists Equihash 200/9. If it doesn’t, you need a different miner (or different hardware) for Wcash.

[piramid]

For anyone mining on wcash.powpools.com who wants to verify accounting, there is now a simple payout / shares lookup page:

http://wcash.powpools.com

Paste your Unified Address/Shielded pub key (u19rv4...7a34vl) and it will show the blocks your worker contributed to,
your recorded shares per height, and whether those rewards are marked as "upcoming" or already included in a payout batch.

Have been mining since last day but in wcash.powpools.com it says  
Results
Error loading data. Check console.
Failed to load data.

Example:
Results
Found 1 matching worker entries

Worker                           Shares   WEC                   Status
u1ay3ewxnhuu….worker1   9.500000   2.18096127   paid

But there are much more entries with a different worker name.

pass your Unified Address (example u1sj2f5w8ut2dhkck85x9q2s3zj42le2958pejprlmwkutz9qyj2wpezgazjlem5a467k2hh02ynmlw x3ecy22jtyt9af3lsalvkmswpkvw494qgfm2jmk7kr65yhxcumlm2sj2zqzz43)
to see shares and status

54532    u1z6fa4zq8px…rl4.rent    972.307692    6.25000000    upcoming
54519    u1z6fa4zq8px…rl4.rent    18.461538    6.25000000    upcoming
54518    u1z6fa4zq8px…rl4.rent    334.737762    4.61787041    upcoming
I already have more than 20 blocks on your pool status: upcoming.
When will the payment be made to my wallet?

[cor418]

What you’re seeing as “upcoming” is normal, and it’s not the pool holding anything back.

Two things matter here:

1) Coinbase rewards are not spendable immediately (consensus rule).
Like Bitcoin/Zcash, newly mined block rewards are locked for a fixed number of confirmations.
On Wcash that lock is 150 blocks.

With ~75 seconds per block:

150 blocks × 75s ≈ 11,250 seconds ≈ 3.1 hours

So even if the pool finds a block right now, the reward for that block literally cannot be spent until the chain advances another ~150 blocks. Until then, there is nothing any pool can “pay out” because the coins are still immature on-chain.

2) Payouts come from a spend, and we shield before paying.
After the coinbase matures, the pool can finally spend it.

Wcash.PoWPools.com flow is:

wait for coinbase maturity (H + 150)

shield the matured reward (so payouts are shielded-by-default)

then send payouts to the Unified Address (u1…) you used as your stratum username

That’s why the lookup page labels entries as:

upcoming = credited to you, but not yet included in a payout transaction (usually because it’s still within the 150‑block maturity window, or waiting for the next batch cycle)

paid = included in a payout transaction that has been broadcast (you’ll see it in your wallet once it scans)

So the short answer: your “upcoming” rows will start flipping to “paid” once a day when those block heights pass +150 confirmations, i.e. typically within a few hours from when those blocks were found.

[piramid]

What you’re seeing as “upcoming” is normal, and it’s not the pool holding anything back.

Two things matter here:

1) Coinbase rewards are not spendable immediately (consensus rule).
Like Bitcoin/Zcash, newly mined block rewards are locked for a fixed number of confirmations.
On Wcash that lock is 150 blocks.

With ~75 seconds per block:

150 blocks × 75s ≈ 11,250 seconds ≈ 3.1 hours

So even if the pool finds a block right now, the reward for that block literally cannot be spent until the chain advances another ~150 blocks. Until then, there is nothing any pool can “pay out” because the coins are still immature on-chain.

2) Payouts come from a spend, and we shield before paying.
After the coinbase matures, the pool can finally spend it.

Wcash.PoWPools.com flow is:

wait for coinbase maturity (H + 150)

shield the matured reward (so payouts are shielded-by-default)

then send payouts to the Unified Address (u1…) you used as your stratum username

That’s why the lookup page labels entries as:

upcoming = credited to you, but not yet included in a payout transaction (usually because it’s still within the 150‑block maturity window, or waiting for the next batch cycle)

paid = included in a payout transaction that has been broadcast (you’ll see it in your wallet once it scans)

So the short answer: your “upcoming” rows will start flipping to “paid” as soon as those block heights pass +150 confirmations, i.e. typically within a few hours from when those blocks were found.

Everything is clear. It would have been enough to write that the maturation period of the found block is 150 blocks.
My Found block No. 54518, 54519 ....
More than 150 blocks have already passed. upcoming status

After reaching 150 blocks, how often will the payments be made? Will each block, hour, or pool balance be accumulated and paid out once a day?

[WebDais]

In wcash.powpools.com only the last few Results are shown. Although there are a few "paid", it doesn't show in the explorer. How to check total balance from unified address?

[cor418]

What you’re seeing as “upcoming” is normal, and it’s not the pool holding anything back.

Two things matter here:

1) Coinbase rewards are not spendable immediately (consensus rule).
Like Bitcoin/Zcash, newly mined block rewards are locked for a fixed number of confirmations.
On Wcash that lock is 150 blocks.

With ~75 seconds per block:

150 blocks × 75s ≈ 11,250 seconds ≈ 3.1 hours

So even if the pool finds a block right now, the reward for that block literally cannot be spent until the chain advances another ~150 blocks. Until then, there is nothing any pool can “pay out” because the coins are still immature on-chain.

2) Payouts come from a spend, and we shield before paying.
After the coinbase matures, the pool can finally spend it.

Wcash.PoWPools.com flow is:

wait for coinbase maturity (H + 150)

shield the matured reward (so payouts are shielded-by-default)

then send payouts to the Unified Address (u1…) you used as your stratum username

That’s why the lookup page labels entries as:

upcoming = credited to you, but not yet included in a payout transaction (usually because it’s still within the 150‑block maturity window, or waiting for the next batch cycle)

paid = included in a payout transaction that has been broadcast (you’ll see it in your wallet once it scans)

So the short answer: your “upcoming” rows will start flipping to “paid” as soon as those block heights pass +150 confirmations, i.e. typically within a few hours from when those blocks were found.

Everything is clear. It would have been enough to write that the maturation period of the found block is 150 blocks.
My Found block No. 54518, 54519 ....
More than 150 blocks have already passed. upcoming status

After reaching 150 blocks, how often will the payments be made? Will each block, hour, or pool balance be accumulated and paid out once a day?

Once coinbase(block reward) coins become spendable on-chain

Pool's payout happens daily.
00:00 UTC time.