A few questions from a total newbie to Zcash

Technical Support
1

Hi,

I could install ZCash and although I read the FAQ, this is my first true experience with electronic currencies. I still have several questions. Thank you for your indulgence.

  1. 1 block solved = 1 ZEC ?

  2. Does “hitting a block” mean doing the last step of resolving a difficult mathematical problem, partly solved by other nodes in the computing network? (The node doing the last step of solving a block being the only one rewarded?)

  3. Is “hitting a block” like a lottery ?
    (The most you are “playing” the most statistical chances to win one day, but no guarantee at all ; some nodes going to be “happy” ones and others “unhappy” ones?)

  4. Does the “slow start” of Zcash during the 34 first days mean that the Zcash Team can adjust the number of ZECs to mine to keep the statistical chances of winning one more or less the same during this period, as the number of ZEC will ramp up, but the overall computing power too?

  5. To whom is a “reward” allocated? To the rpcnode who solved the block? To a t-/z- address created on that node ?

Thanks.

2

I can answer to question 1)

the amount of ZEC per block is increasing and at the moment 1 block is about 1.72 ZEC (at the beginning
was 0.20 ZEC or something like this). It will increase for about 30 days until it reaches 1 block = 12.5 ZEC

Cheers,
marlon6

3
  1. & 3):

It’s a lottery. The rules are set that the chance to win can be adjusted based on total power of the network.

4):

The code in the zcash node defines exactly what is the reward for each block. For first e.g. 30 days it increases to 12.5 ZEC per 2 minutes 30 seconds on average.

5):

Part of the block is so called coinbase transaction, which sends newly created ZEC to miner’s address (80%) and 20% is sent as reward to zcash foundation. This transaction is prepared by miner.