Firo (FIRO) — previously known as Zcoin — is a privacy-focused proof-of-work cryptocurrency that pioneered the Zerocoin Protocol on a live production blockchain, later evolving to develop the Lelantus and Lelantus Spark privacy protocols using zero-knowledge proofs, enabling on-chain coin burning and anonymous redemption where transaction amounts, senders, and receivers are fully hidden.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | FIRO |
| Price | $0.76 |
| Market Cap | $14.00M |
| 24h Change | -0.4% |
| Circulating Supply | 18.48M FIRO |
| Max Supply | 21.40M FIRO |
| All-Time High | $139.77 |
How It Works
- Lelantus Spark (current) — Firo’s current privacy mechanism. Users “mint” Spark coins by burning transparent FIRO into a private pool. To spend, users generate a zero-knowledge proof demonstrating ownership of a certain amount in the pool without revealing which coin they burned or exactly how much. Recipient addresses are also shielded.
- Burn-and-redeem model — Unlike Zcash’s shielded transactions (which can co-exist with transparent transactions), Firo’s model involves making coins “anonymous” by burning them into the private pool and redeeming fresh coins — fully breaking the transaction graph.
- FiroPoW (Proof of Work) — Firo uses FiroPoW, an Ethash-modified PoW algorithm designed for GPU mining and ASIC resistance.
- Chainlocks — Firo uses LLMQ (Long Living Masternode Quorums) Chainlocks to provide instant finality against 51% attacks — a security mechanism adopted from Dash.
- Masternodes — Firo has masternodes that require a stake of 1,000 FIRO and participate in Chainlocks and governance.
Tokenomics
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | FIRO |
| Previous name | Zcoin (rebranded 2020) |
| Max Supply | ~21,400,000 |
| Consensus | FiroPoW (GPU mining) + Chainlocks |
| Launch | September 28, 2016 |
| Privacy mechanism | Lelantus Spark (ZKP burn-and-redeem) |
Use Cases
- Private transactions — Send FIRO with full privacy of sender, receiver, and amount using Lelantus Spark.
- Mining — GPU mining of FIRO using FiroPoW.
- Masternode operation — Run a masternode (1,000 FIRO stake) for Chainlock participation and income.
History
- 2016-09-28 — Zcoin (later Firo) launches as the first production implementation of the Zerocoin protocol for on-chain privacy.
- 2017 — A critical bug in the Zerocoin protocol allows an attacker to counterfeit 370,000 Zcoin. The team patches the vulnerability and implements compensatory measures.
- 2019 — Zcoin develops Sigma, a more efficient zero-knowledge accumulator protocol replacing Zerocoin.
- 2020 — Zcoin rebrands as Firo. Lelantus protocol (Aram Jivanyan’s design) introduced as an improvement over Sigma.
- 2020 — Firo experiences a 51% attack. Chainlocks are subsequently implemented as a defense mechanism.
- 2021 — Lelantus Spark (an advanced version with full receiver, sender, and amount privacy) development begins.
- 2022–2023 — Lelantus Spark activates on Firo mainnet — one of the most comprehensive privacy protocols in production.
- 2024–2025 — Firo continues as a dedicated privacy chain. Competes with Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Pirate Chain (ARRR) for the privacy-focused segment.
Common Misconceptions
“Firo is just a Zcash fork.”
Firo independently implemented the Zerocoin protocol (which preceded Zcash’s zk-SNARKs approach) and developed Lelantus Spark — its own original privacy protocol. It is not derived from Zcash.
“The Zcoin counterfeiting bug means the project is insecure.”
The 2017 counterfeiting exploit was a cryptographic bug in the Zerocoin paper’s academic formulation, not an implementation error unique to Zcoin. Zcoin discovered and fixed the vulnerability, and Firo has since entirely replaced Zerocoin with the more robust Lelantus Spark.
Social Media Sentiment
Firo has a respected reputation among privacy cryptocurrency enthusiasts for its original protocol research. Lelantus Spark is considered technically among the strongest privacy mechanisms in production. The community is smaller than Monero’s but technically engaged. Firo’s commitment to GPU mining and privacy research earns respect in the broader cryptocurrency space.
Last updated: 2026-04