Set-up Guide for running Zcash on Tor (Ubuntu / Debian Linux Desktop)
Project Status Update;
2 x new Zcash on Tor Exit servers are currently being provisioned on hosting in Canada (and perhaps the Ukraine). I’m waiting on the hosting provider to resolve some stability issues that I’ve reported.
It would be good to keep ZcashTor0se and ZcashTor0lv (the original project exit nodes, now relays) online, although the coffers are once again running dry! However, hosting is covered for both of these relays until around the 13th of August.
A total of 9 servers will then be hosted directly via the project with an additional 3 servers being run by ‘trusted’ associates.
Whilst we continue to work towards funding some Tier 1 project servers then the potential for additional funding streams and sponsorship opportunities should materialize.
Initial thoughts for (non-profit) revenue streams for server costs, time etc., might include;
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Establishing a small / dedicated ZEC mining farm.
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Launching a Zcash on Tor .onion enabled mining pool with a 2% fee (1% being used to donate to Tor server costs etc.,)
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Project T-shirts and/or some other form of merchandising !?!
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A donation service for fully private Tor Bridges !?!. These would be new Tor Bridges (optimized for Zcash) throughput, where users could donate say $1 ZEC min. value to receive say 4 randomly selected private Tor bridges, by the project. Private Tor bridges are not submitted to the Tor directory authorities and are therefore not advertised in the Tor Atlas or the Tor BridgeDB - see: https://bridges.torproject.org/ - Surplus Zcash on Tor funding could also be used to establish additional new ‘private’ Tor Bridges. Using only private bridges (as Tor entry nodes) is assumed to be one of the most anonymous and private ways to use the Tor network.
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New Zcash on Tor Exit node is now online!
ZcashTor0ca - Relay Search - http://45.62.236.66 - Canada
Note that new Tor Relays always take a while to gain their full network status + bandwidth capabilities.
" Welcome to the ‘Zcash on Tor’ Servers Project - javascript (WebAssembly) miner - Auto CPU Donation Page ! "
- http://zcashtorservers.zapto.org/
Project Status Update;
Zcash on Tor served well over 20 TB’s of Tor traffic last month! Its difficult to tell exactly how much of that traffic was Zcash P2P - simply because we are part of an anonymity network! However, the number of concurrent addnode=.onion hidden_service users is also increasing steadily.
Relay nodes ZatoshiNakamoto - Japan and JohnDobbertin - Australia will be renamed to ZcashTor0jp and ZcashTor0au - respectfully. This will provide some uniformity for our server provision, moving forward, also allowing Tor users to discover the services (and Zcash for that matter) via the Tor Atlas.
The monthly hosting bills for ZcashTor0se and ZcashTor0lv are due tomorrow 13th / 14th of August (around 50 euros). So, I look to continue hosting these Relays (currently our highest-bandwidth Guard servers) from my own pocket, pursuant of a future application for Non-Profit funding, when the Zcash Foundation is in full swing.
I have been privy to the Zcash Foundation’s Call For Proposals - Draft - submissions document - available to all via the chat.zcashcommunity.com - the-zcash-foundation channel. It’s really taking shape and I understand that the appointed Senior Program Manager for the Zcash Foundation starts on Monday! Aside from our own project / application - this is going to be a fantastic funding opportunity for a vast array of Open Source and Zcash related projects, both old and new - very exciting times!
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The stability of our only exit server ZcashTor0ca has been brought into question due to issues with the hosting provider. I have taken measures to try and ensure stability and security of the server by installing our own linux image. The server hosts the addnode=fhsxfrwpyrtoxeal.onion - which is the only project server running in ‘non-anonymous’ mode (see the Tor manual for details), so its OK to present that information publicly, as the client connectivity / anonymity is ensured, whilst the servers location is known / locatable (only in this instance). All of the other hidden_services are run in full hidden service mode, and any listings do not necessarily correlate to the public Relay or Exit node (being presented via the Tor Atlas), as they were assigned by a random number generator (or perhaps not)! Having more than one server also gives us the ability to ‘rotate the onion’s’ occasionally. 
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With project ZoE on the cards - it seems appropriate for the Zcash on Tor servers project to accept ETH / Ethereum, so I will be adding a donation address in due course, along with a BCH / BCC - Bitcoin Cash address for any project contributors.
I’m now also considering locations for our future ISP / Tier 1 Tor Exit servers, as well as setting up our Non-profit status, along with the formation of our .onion enabled mining pool (soon to start beta testing on the Zcash testnet!).
Regards,
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All Zcash on Tor server provision has been successfully secured until the middle on September.
Ongoing community support and additional contributions are always welcome!
If anyone uses Zcash over Tor and is able to set-up their own addnode=.onion hidden_service address (using the existing guides) then we can look to add these nodes into our server lists. You might PM me if you don’t want your node linked to your forum account. Even if your addnode=.onion Zcash node is only online for making occasional transactions - it will certainly be of benefit to the network as a whole, through increased diversification of connectivity!
Adding project funding addresses for;
ETH - Ethereum - 0x7EdB6C8B414bab43D26C96a538E0e507Bbe77b8b
[Redacted]
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Project servers (known public) have now been re-named ‘ZcashTor’ for some uniformity. Search;
Zcash on Tor - Project Grant (tentative) Proposal has now been submitted to github.
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Building bridges …
‘Zcash on Whonix-(Qubes)’ !? …
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The demo ‘Zcash on Tor’ Servers Project - javascript (WebAssembly) miner - Auto CPU Donation Page - http://zcashtorservers.zapto.org/ …
Now supports Snowflake - a new WebRTC pluggable transport (for Tor) inspired by Flashproxy. See the ‘Internet Freedom’ badge at the base of the page.
- serene - Snowflake - currently in Alpha.
Don’t panic! It’s Opt-in (as soon will be the web miner, including some new features!). Anyhow, now you can ‘demo’ mine some actual Zcash to support my ‘Zcash on Tor’ project and act as an ephemeral Tor Bridge to help censored internet users around the globe - right in your web browser, without installing a thing! Wouldn’t it be cool if you could also mine to your own ZEC address at the same time! 