Donut Shop Owners Don't Need Zcash

General
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People think in many different ways. And everyone says they are right.

I say that Zcash is no longer money, but people either do not care at all or still truly hope that it will become money.

I understand the people who do not care. From their point of view, whether ZEC is money or not does not seem to have much to do with the price of the ZEC they bought going up. (But it actually does. Zcash can move to the next stage only after it leaves behind the narrative that ZEC is money.)

But if there are still people who think of ZEC as money, that is a really serious state of mind. If you understand how money works, it is very difficult to say that ZEC is money.

Governments influence the market so that money keeps circulating in order to maintain a better economy. For example, they try to lower the value of money at a slow and steady rate.

On the other hand, ZEC was designed with a structure that allows it to overcome inflation. So using ZEC as money is basically a foolish idea. It only needs to be freely transferable.

Anyway, this is the important point.

Donut shop owners don’t need Zcash now.

This is our biggest concern.

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Greshams Law is all I will say.

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@Chewbacca

Are you the donut shop owner I’ve been waiting for? Welcome!

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They might not want the ZEC, but they do want

  • to avoid credit card merchant fees
  • to avoid future chargebacks
  • to not wait for Monday morning for the money to be usable
  • additional sales from customers who seek out their crypto friendly store
  • to buy secret ingredients without competitors knowing
  • to not end up with coins with unfortunate histories
  • to hire the all star baker who says, ‘pay me in zcash’
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Stop teaZn :+1:

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@_eric

Oh dear. You’ve got it all wrong. They just want a vacation. It’s way too hot out there these days!

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What tends to flip that for a small shop in your experience, a supplier leak or a competitor quietly reading their sales volumes?

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People usually save valuable coins instead of spending them. But that doesn’t mean businesses should never accept Zcash. Both saving and spending can happen at the same time.

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radbro likes 00

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Fair point that a corner merchant rarely thinks about payment privacy until something forces the issue. What tends to flip that for a small shop in your experience, a supplier leak or a competitor quietly reading their sales volumes?

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@ZKZeek

Because the fixed costs are higher than the sales. and In the first place, a small shop does not need to protect its information. There will be no people who are interested in my shop. When my shop becomes very big, people start to care.

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@operational-anxiety4

I agree with you

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I was hinting the opposite, an all star baker wants to be paid in shielded zcash in an all digital world. The savvy merchant fights the frictions of a system that hasn’t evolved yet.

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Merchants don’t necessarily want ZEC. They just want to get paid.
Customers who hold ZEC want to pay with it.

The checkout system should bridge that gap without forcing either side to change what they want.

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@dismad

The baker you are talking about does not exist. She is currently inside ‘The Matrix’.

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@shawnmuggle

  1. A bridge system does not make ZEC itself into money. For people to actually spend ZEC, using it must make more sense than simply holding it. But if payments are slow, there are fees, and its buying power changes a lot, people will treat ZEC as an investment, not as money. That is why I would not buy a hamburger with the ZEC in my zodl

  2. If you want to see if that coin can really be money, first check these two things: ‘When I buy a hamburger at McDonald’s with this coin today, does the payment finish within 3 seconds without any fees?’ and ‘Will the price of the hamburger stay the same tomorrow based on this coin?’ If that is not possible, it is not money, but just an investment asset like stocks or gold.Therefore, I will not pay for a hamburger with the ZEC inside my zodl.

Which of the two options above would you choose?

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If you say so, you can believe whatever you want. I’m excited privacy DOES work. :face_blowing_a_kiss:

I believe in choice too, but here we are in a Zcash forum so clearly I have a bias. :+1:

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Fair. for most holders today, ZEC is closer to gold than to cash. And whether McDonald accept it is an adoption problem that fixes itself once the experience is good enough.

So here’s my question back: suppose paying in ZEC settled in 3 seconds, no extra cost, and paid you better than a credit card with 5% casback. As a consumer, would you spend then?

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@shawnmuggle

  1. The problem is that unless the Zcash network makes a special effort, the user experience is unlikely to improve naturally.
  2. I will only use cash or stablecoins for everyday payments. I want to believe in the future of ZEC. Not simply for its value as an asset, but for its future value as a social utility.

Simply put, I think the value of ZEC depends on its social role, not on the debate over whether it is money or whether people use it for payments.

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I’d like to share my own perspective on this discussion.

I believe using Zcash as a payment method makes a lot of sense. After all, Zcash is a digital currency built around privacy and financial freedom. At the same time, I also believe it should become part of everyday life rather than remaining limited to online communities.

The main reason is this: if we try to evaluate everything solely through the lens of privacy, we risk overlooking the realities of the world around us. Of course, Zcash will probably never become the world’s most widely accepted payment network. That’s because its vision is centered on a community of people who genuinely value financial privacy. I’m specifically referring to those who want to conduct private financial transactions for the sake of privacy itself, not for commercial reasons.

That’s exactly why being able to use Zcash in my everyday purchases is something I consider a privilege. Stablecoins may offer advantages for fast payments, but they still leave a traceable record of your transactions. They certainly have their place in the digital economy, but I believe Zcash provides a much more meaningful alternative for local merchants and everyday, person-to-person commerce.

Privacy is more than just a technology—it’s a culture. Out of billions of people, perhaps only a small percentage truly understand the importance of financial, digital, and personal privacy. If we can gradually bring this culture beyond the internet and into our streets, cities, shops, and restaurants, people will begin to see that privacy is not something to fear. Businesses, in turn, will recognize that accepting Zcash is a reasonable and natural choice.

Today, it may not always be possible to complete a Zcash payment in just a few seconds at large retail chains. However, integrations like Flexa are already providing practical solutions. And when it comes to a local merchant that accepts Zcash, I personally don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes. Because for me, this isn’t just about speed—it’s about supporting the values I believe in.

I also see a clear distinction between the ZEC I hold as an investment and the ZEC I spend in everyday life. Once I purchase something, I don’t really care whether its price goes up or down afterward. If we truly want to promote a culture of privacy, we need to demonstrate it through our actions in the real world, not just through discussions online.

In my opinion, Zcash is already a technically strong project. But if we can successfully integrate it into everyday life, it will become far more powerful and influential than many people imagine today.