What is Hypercash?

HyperCash (HC), Hshare or Hcash is a decentralised, open-source, but above all cross-platform cryptocurrency, which makes it one of the few cryptocurrencies designed to carry out transactions between blockchain-based and blockless cryptocurrencies – and all this from exactly the same wallet. Beyond its daring technology, investor interest in HyperCash has also remained constant for several months. At the time of writing in 2020, HC has roughly traded in the £1.00 to £1.50 range (with a couple of outliers… think Feb/March) and regularly has 24-hour trading volumes of around £16 million, as well as a market capitalisation of £43 million. According to CoinGecko, it ranks at 148th in terms of market capitalisation. In 2017, the currency even ranked at 14th, which, at the time, attracted an influx of investors interested in its potential.

Back to 2020, is it a good idea to invest in HyperCash? How does this cryptocurrency work? Does it have potential? Where can you buy it? Let this guide answer your questions.

Disclaimer: Crypto investments are risky by their very nature, do your own research and invest only within the limits of your financial capacity. This article does not constitute investment advice. If you are new to the crypto world why not start by reading the ‘13 must-know rules before investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency’.

What is HyperCash (HC)?

HyperCash is a very innovative cryptocurrency created to support anonymous transactions, DAO governance and quantum resistance. It is a ‘dual-chain’ cryptocurrency that has a sidechain which consists of a blockchain and a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) network. It was designed to allow unlimited exchanges between blockchain-based and non-blockchain systems whilst securing privacy and encryption. 

Hcash offers two versions of its wallet, one for traditional cryptocurrencies and another for privacy-focused ones. Whether you use an anonymous cryptocurrency or not, you can make transfers between public and private addresses with your wallet.

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, HyperCash is based on a hybrid consensus model. It uses both proof-of-work and proof-of-stake, which improves community participation, verification and especially network governance. We will go into more detail about this later.

It is also important to note that HyperCash’s code has been equipped, since its deployment, with a quantum resistance, which allows it to enjoy an optimal level of security and resistance to cyber attacks.

Big ambitions in a short history

HyperCash is a young cryptocurrency. Its story only began on 2nd October 2017, when it was launched under the name “Hshare“, after an ICO on 28th June of the same year. The cryptocurrency was developed by a team based in China and Australia, and included the developers Dallas Brooks, Andrew Wasylewicz, Khal Achkar and Joseph Liu – the project’s main developer. More details about the team on their official website.

To ensure the efficiency and security of the network, the team has worked closely with international universities such as the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and Monash University in Australia.

As expected with a cryptocurrency launched during the bubble, HyperCash reached its all time high (ATH) of £27.76 in August 2017, and not long after reached a record low (ATL) of £0.4768 in December 2018. As we mentioned earlier, as of September 2020 HC is now trading approximately double its ATL.

It has a maximum supply of 84,000,000 HC with around 44.8 million already available, just over half of its maximum supply.

Which problems does HyperCash plan to solve?

HyperCash wants to tackle two main issues: cryptocurrency interoperability and transaction privacy.

The interoperability of cryptocurrencies

By default, cryptocurrencies are not designed to be interoperable. Let’s take Bitcoin and Ethereum, for example. These two cryptocurrencies are mined in order to create the blocks which contain their transaction register. However, it’s impossible for Bitcoin’s blockchain to communicate with Ethereum’s. Moreover, the more blocks validated on the blockchain, the more difficult it is to transfer values ​​between them.

Without Hcash, the only way to transfer information and values ​​between the two cryptocurrencies is to use an exchange. However, the problem with exchanges is that they can: charge high transaction fees, be slow and are in most cases centralised.

This seems counterintuitive, as cryptocurrencies were created to free their users from the presence of a central authority and to reduce transaction costs/time.

Enter HyperCash, which presents itself as a sidechain.

This means it works as if two networks were operating simultaneously. One is blockchain-based and the other is ‘blockless’ – i.e. networks using the DAG. Thanks to the simultaneous operation of these two networks, Hcash is able to offer addresses that can communicate with other cryptocurrencies. In other words, you can send and receive various cryptocurrencies using just a HC wallet.

This is a good time to point out that if you want to understand what HyperCash offers in more depth, you can take a look at its white paper.

Transaction confidentiality

Since it claims to be a sidechain for several cryptocurrencies – including those that focus on privacy – it made sense for the HC to offer its users the option to conduct transactions anonymously.

For this reason, two types of wallet are offered. A white wallet where addresses are accessible to the public, and a black wallet which allows transactions to be carried out in complete confidentiality. How does Hcash ensure this confidentiality?

The network has deployed the zero-knowledge proof protocol (ZKP), which allows miners to verify transactions without the identity of users or information about their transactions needing to be shown to the node, which is crucial, especially for the transfer of funds between public and private addresses. This protocol has also been proven to work with cryptocurrencies like Zcash, Ergo, StarkWare and so on. Hcash has even integrated quantum resistance into its code to provide an extra level of security.

A hybrid governance model: PoW X PoS

In most cases, in order to validate transactions and mine new blocks, cryptocurrency blockchains use either the proof-of-work consensus or proof-of-stake. With PoW, all miners on the whole network compete with each other to verify transactions, calculate a hash and mine each new block. Whoever manages to calculate the correct hash and mine a healthy block first wins the reward. It’s a competition that commands enormous computing power.

PoS on the other hand, uses a method which selects the miner who will validate the new block based on who participates in the everyday running of the network and the amount of the underlying cryptocurrency they hold in their wallet. With this governance model, miners with a larger amount of cryptocurrency are more likely to be selected to verify a new block.

Most cryptocurrencies generally use one or the other of these governance systems.  Bitcoin, for example, uses PoW and Ethereum PoS, but it is interesting to see that Hcash uses a hybrid of both.

HyperCash’s users’ voting power is therefore both based on their participation in the cryptocurrency (PoS), as well as the computing power they bring to the network (PoW). This hybrid mode of governance helps to encourage miners to bring more computing power to the network as well as motivating average miners to stay engaged.

Hypercash’s disruption potential

Thanks to its built-in quantum resistance, the network has never been compromised.  Perhaps it will take a few years to confirm the inviolability of HC’s blockchain. Either way, the chances of a successful HC hack appear to be very low.

How to buy HyperCash?

For those wishing to buy HyperCash, you will find it on Binance amongst other platforms.

Check out our general guide to buying cryptocurrencies here.

What to remember about HyperCash

Since it is a relatively young cryptocurrency, HyperCash could have an interesting growth potential. In addition, the way it works, let’s not mince our words, is rather revolutionary.

Its use of a hybrid mode of governance and the offer of interoperability between cryptocurrencies, including privacy coins like Monero, is forward thinking. It means users can exchange multiple cryptocurrencies from a wallet that exists in two forms, one of which is designed for anonymous transactions and one for all other transactions. Surely, under the right circumstances, the project could attract more investors.

Furthermore, no hacks have been reported on the network’s blockchain so far, and with a quantum cryptography system deployed the odds of that happening seem pretty low.

HyperCash may well prove to be the perfect cryptocurrency for people looking for flexibility, versatility and security in this new age of digital currencies.