Spoluzakladatel F2Pool Chun Wang kritizoval Zcash kvůli financování, správě i modelu volitelného soukromí, zatímco ZEC po rally držel kolem 1 130 USD. CoinMarketCap jej řadil na 10. místo.
F2Pool co-founder Chun Wang criticized Zcash on Sept. 8 as ZEC traded near $1,130 following a rally that carried the privacy coin into the cryptocurrency market’s top ten.
Summary
Zcash traded near $1,130 after gaining more than 2,300% during the previous twelve months overall. F2Pool co-founder Chun Wang criticized Zcash’s funding structure, governance history and optional privacy model publicly. Zcash allocated 20% of early block rewards through its original four-year Founders’ Reward system initially. Ironwood replaced Orchard after developers disclosed a four-year vulnerability carrying theoretical hidden counterfeiting risks onchain. Developers found no evidence of exploitation but cannot cryptographically prove counterfeit ZEC never existed privately. Wang, who posts under the name Chun at @satofishi, called the move a “narrative bid.” He argued that Zcash’s funding history, optional privacy model, governance disputes and recently disclosed Orchard vulnerability did not justify its valuation.
His comments are opinions rather than evidence of wrongdoing. Several underlying events are documented, but some of Wang’s conclusions omit later changes to Zcash’s funding and privacy systems.
ZEC was trading around $1,130 when this report was prepared, down nearly 7% over 24 hours. CoinMarketCap placed its capitalization near $19 billion and ranked it tenth, while CoinGecko placed it ninth. Rankings can differ because platforms use different supply and asset-classification methods.
The token remained more than 2,300% higher than one year earlier, according to market data cited in coverage of Zcash’s move above $1,000. Its rally accelerated after Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into a U.S.-listed spot exchange-traded fund in August.
Six years ago, a Zcash team member wrote me and kept confusing EST and EDT. Communication went nowhere, I banned their entire company.
Six years later, this is still one of the best decisions I have made.
Still remember the BlockFi incident where they were supposed to send… https://t.co/hY6H6W37pj
— Chun (@satofishi) September 8, 2026 Zcash funding criticism needs historical context Wang said Zcash did not have a fair launch because 20% of its early block rewards went to founders, employees, advisers and investors.
The underlying percentage is correct. During Zcash’s first four years, miners received 80% of each block subsidy, while the Founders’ Reward received 20%. Because that arrangement covered only the first issuance period, it represented 2.1 million ZEC, or 10% of the planned 21 million maximum supply.
The recipients included founders, investors, employees and organizations supporting development. The 2.1 million ZEC did not go exclusively to Electric Coin Company, a distinction noted in historical community discussions.
The Founders’ Reward ended with the Canopy upgrade in November 2020. Zcash then introduced a development fund that also received 20% of block rewards between the first and second halvings.
Under that arrangement, 7% went to Electric Coin Company, 5% to the Zcash Foundation and 8% to Major Grants, later renamed Zcash Community Grants. Miners continued receiving 80%.
That development fund added a maximum of approximately 1.05 million ZEC, equal to 5% of the eventual supply. Combined with the original Founders’ Reward, the two mechanisms directed up to 15% of the maximum supply toward founders, investors and different development recipients across eight years.
Wang’s description becomes less precise when applied to the present system. Since November 2024, Zcash has continued allocating 20% of block rewards for ecosystem funding, but the recipients changed.
The official Zcash network page states that 8% goes to Zcash Community Grants and 12% entered a protocol-tracked lockbox. Direct payments to Electric Coin Company and the Zcash Foundation ended under that structure.
The lockbox had no immediate withdrawal mechanism when introduced. Its purpose was to hold funds until the community agreed on a decentralized distribution process. Therefore, describing the current allocation as a direct continuing payment to “a company and its backers” would be inaccurate.
Whether any protocol-funded development mechanism is appropriate remains a policy judgment. Bitcoin generally directs its subsidy to miners, while Zcash chose to reserve part of issuance for software development and ecosystem grants.
Zcash governance dispute did not stop the network Wang also cited the January departure of the Electric Coin Company team following a dispute with Bootstrap, the U.S. nonprofit that governed ECC.
The departure occurred on Jan. 7. Then-CEO Josh Swihart said the entire team had been “constructively discharged” after employment conditions changed. He accused a majority of Bootstrap’s board of acting against the company’s mission.
Bootstrap disputed that framing. Its board said the disagreement concerned nonprofit law, fiduciary responsibilities and plans involving the Zashi wallet and outside investment.
The board argued that assets held by a public-benefit nonprofit could not be transferred in a way that created improper private benefits. No court has ruled on either side’s description of the dispute.
The former ECC employees did not abandon Zcash development. They announced a new company, Zcash Open Development Lab, and continued working on the protocol and privacy-related products.
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox defended the integrity of the Bootstrap directors and said the conflict did not affect the protocol. The blockchain continued operating because miners, nodes and multiple development groups did not depend on ECC’s corporate existence.
The episode still exposed a governance divide among organizations responsible for core software, funding, trademarks and wallets. Wang’s statement that the disagreement proved Zcash was “broken at the top” is his interpretation, not an established technical finding.
ZEC fell sharply when the split became public in January. That verified price reaction showed that traders considered the developer dispute material, even though the blockchain itself did not halt.
Ironwood contained the Orchard supply risk Wang’s strongest factual criticism concerns a vulnerability in Orchard, Zcash’s main shielded pool between May 2022 and July 2026.
Security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered the flaw in May. The error involved an under-constrained element within Orchard’s cryptographic circuit. In theory, an attacker could have supplied invalid inputs and created counterfeit ZEC that ordinary verification would accept.
Developers deployed an emergency fix on June 1. They reported finding no evidence that anyone had exploited the vulnerability.
However, the privacy properties of Orchard prevent developers from cryptographically proving that no counterfeit ZEC was created before the patch. The flaw existed from Orchard’s May 2022 activation until the emergency response, according to the technical disclosure.
That limitation supports part of Wang’s criticism. Transparent ledgers allow observers to calculate visible supply directly. A shielded pool conceals transaction values, so its supply integrity depends on the soundness of its cryptographic rules.
The inability to prove non-exploitation is not evidence that counterfeiting occurred. It means the available evidence cannot eliminate that possibility with cryptographic certainty.
Zcash activated Ironwood at block 3,428,143 on July 28. The upgrade opened a separately tracked shielded pool and prevented Orchard from accepting new deposits or internal transfers. Orchard users could still withdraw funds.
Ironwood introduced an accounting checkpoint that prevents more ZEC from leaving Orchard than entered it. Any counterfeit balance remaining in the old pool therefore cannot pass freely into the new pool beyond the recorded amount.
As crypto.news reported, Ironwood replaced Orchard with a formally verified shielded design. The verification provides stronger assurance that Ironwood cannot create hidden counterfeit ZEC under its stated design assumptions.
The upgrade did not retroactively prove that Orchard was never exploited. It contained the unresolved supply risk and created a new accounting boundary for future transactions.
Optional privacy is seeing greater use Wang argued that optional privacy had left most ZEC in transparent addresses for much of the network’s history. Zcash does allow both transparent and shielded transfers, unlike Monero, where privacy protections apply by default.
Exchange support, wallet limitations and the higher computing requirements of early shielded transactions slowed adoption. Transparent addresses remained easier for many services to support.
Recent data presents a more mixed picture. Shielded ZEC increased from about 8% of supply in early 2024 to approximately 30% by May 2026. Shielded transactions accounted for 59.3% of network activity at that point, according to data cited in reporting on growing shielded adoption.
Those figures do not prove that Zcash has developed a broad commercial economy. They do show that the claim that privacy remains almost unused is outdated when applied to current network activity.
Wang compared Zcash unfavorably with Solana and Hyperliquid, arguing that both networks process more visible economic activity. That comparison relies on different use cases. Solana supports general-purpose applications, while Hyperliquid focuses on trading. Zcash primarily offers payments with optional transaction privacy.
Market capitalization also does not measure protocol revenue, payment volume or user numbers directly. ZEC’s top-ten position records the market value assigned to circulating tokens, not a verified ranking of network utility.
BlockFi error was real but unrelated to Zcash Wang separately referred to BlockFi’s 2021 promotional payment error. BlockFi confirmed that some customers received rewards denominated in Bitcoin instead of U.S. dollars.
Some users withdrew the unexpected payments before BlockFi reversed them. The company said fewer than 100 customers withdrew incorrect awards and initially placed its remaining exposure near $10 million.
Reports showed individual account credits involving hundreds of BTC. However, BlockFi did not publicly verify Wang’s specific example of a customer receiving 701.4 BTC instead of $701.40.
The payment mistake had no operational connection to Zcash, its developers or zk-SNARK cryptography. Wang used it as an analogy for poor attention to detail, alongside his earlier disagreement with a Zcash team member over Eastern Standard Time and Eastern Daylight Time.
His six-year-old decision to block the company was personal. Confusion over time-zone terminology does not establish that Zcash’s cryptographic work was defective.
What happens next for Zcash Ironwood remains the main technical response to the Orchard vulnerability. Users must move funds out of Orchard for them to enter the new shielded pool, while developers can monitor the accounting checkpoint during that migration.
The ecosystem must also determine how development funding is governed and distributed. Debate over the 20% allocation is likely to continue because it affects miners, grant recipients and ZEC holders differently.
For traders, the immediate question is whether ZEC can retain its top-ten capitalization after a steep rally. The token fell from an intraday high above $1,216 to around $1,130, showing elevated volatility.
A rally driven partly by ETF access and short liquidations does not prove Chun Wang’s criticism correct or incorrect. It shows that market price, protocol security and network use remain separate measures requiring independent evidence.
FAQs Who is Chun Wang? Chun Wang is a co-founder of F2Pool, one of the cryptocurrency industry’s longest-running Bitcoin mining pools. He posts on X under @satofishi.
Did Zcash give founders 20% of its total supply? No. The Founders’ Reward received 20% of block issuance during the first four years. That equaled 2.1 million ZEC, or 10% of the maximum supply.
Was the Orchard vulnerability exploited? Developers reported finding no evidence of exploitation. Orchard’s privacy design means they cannot prove with cryptographic certainty that hidden counterfeiting never occurred.
Did Ironwood destroy coins held in Orchard? No. Orchard stopped accepting new deposits and internal transfers, but withdrawals remain possible through an accounting checkpoint designed to contain any excess supply.
Did BlockFi send Bitcoin instead of dollar rewards? Yes. BlockFi confirmed the general payment error in 2021. The specific 701.4 BTC example cited by Wang was not publicly
Grayscaleův ETF na Zcash, ZCSH, držel k 4. září aktiva v hodnotě 463,2 milionu USD. ZEC se zároveň obchodoval poblíž 1 185 USD a za posledních 24 hodin vzrostl o 11 %.
Zcash (ZEC) trades near $1,185, up 11% over the past 24 hours. Grayscale’s Zcash ETF (ZCSH) held $463.2 million in assets as of Sept. 4.
The fund converted from Grayscale’s Zcash Trust when it began trading on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25. ZEC now ranks among the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
ZCSH Assets Track ZEC’s RallyZCSH shares closed at $83.77 on Sept. 4, up 7.62% for the day. Shares slipped to $82.20 in after-hours trading that evening.
The fund’s net asset value per share stood at $83.48. That falls within a 52-week range of $3.54 to $84.23.
Daily volume reached 804,728 shares, per Grayscale’s own disclosures. The ETF’s year-to-date return reached 166.44%, per Yahoo Finance.
The fund held 444,608 ZEC tokens as of Sept. 4. Shares outstanding stood at 5.55 million, Grayscale reported.
Zcash has rallied strongly in the past month, more than doubling in value. Image Source: CoinGeckoGrayscale converted its Zcash Trust into the ZCSH exchange-traded fund on Aug. 25. The trust had operated since 2017.
Grayscale cited roughly $260 million in assets at conversion. ZCSH became the first US-listed spot ETF for a privacy-focused token.
For everyday investors, ZCSH means ZEC exposure without a crypto wallet or exchange account. That access is one reason inflows have grown so quickly since launch.
A New Demand for AI Safe CoinsSteve Vanourny, Grayscale’s head of index, linked the launch to rising demand for financial privacy.
“As AI reshapes how financial activity can be monitored, we believe demand for genuine financial privacy will only grow.”
Steve Vanourny, Grayscale’s head of index, Grayscale
ZEC’s rally began before the ETF launch, when it hit an eight-year high in August.
The rally has pushed Zcash’s market cap above $20 billion, per BeInCrypto data.
The token remains far below its 2016 all-time high of $3,191.93. That leaves room for further gains if inflows continue.
Whether ETF inflows keep pace with ZEC’s volatility remains an open question for investors.
Zcash za 7 dní vzrostl o více než 45 % díky přílivu do spot ETF Grayscale a likvidacím shortů. Cena se po průrazu nad 1 000 USD dostala až k zhruba 1 250 USD.
Zcash (ZEC) has experienced a significant rally, climbing nearly 12% in the past 24 hours to approximately $1,190 as of September 7. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency saw its seven-day gains exceed 45% after briefly reaching an intraday high near $1,250.
ETF inflows drive ZEC momentumThe primary catalyst for Zcash’s upward movement has been the launch of Grayscale’s ZCSH spot ETF. This investment fund, now trading on NYSE Arca since August 25, provides regulated access for US investors seeking direct exposure to ZEC.
By September 4, the ETF had reported net inflows totaling $34.4 million, including $12.6 million on September 2 alone. Since its debut, ZCSH’s net assets have grown to around $463 million, indicating sustained investor interest in the product.
As demand for the ETF increased, ZEC’s price moved decisively through key resistance levels. The token accelerated past the $1,000 mark during the session on September 4, gaining roughly 20% on the day. Continued buying pressure pushed ZEC beyond $1,100 and $1,200 in the following sessions.
Grayscale positioned ZCSH as a way for investors to gain exposure to the theme of financial privacy within a US-listed investment product, connecting mainstream markets with privacy-focused digital assets.
At the same time, interest in Zcash’s privacy technology has grown, supporting the bullish momentum tied to ETF flows.
Leveraged traders have also played a role in the rapid price action. The initial break above $1,000 triggered liquidations of $34 million to $36 million in short positions as traders attempted to bet against the rally. Further short exposure has continued to build even as ZEC prices climbed.
Key liquidation levels and liquidity zonesAccording to data from Coinglass, several liquidity concentrations remain above ZEC’s current price. Notable clusters are present between $1,215 and $1,220, $1,245 and $1,255, as well as $1,265 to $1,280. If the token breaks through these ranges, additional short liquidations could trigger more upward movement as bearish traders close positions.
Below the current trading level, liquidity is reported around $1,165 to $1,170, with larger concentrations found near $1,130 to $1,140 and $1,105 to $1,120. These areas may act as potential support levels should the price retrace.
Mini dictionary: Coinglass, a leading analytics platform that provides real-time data on crypto derivatives, including liquidations, open interest, and funding rates across various exchanges.
On-chain developments and governance updatesZcash’s ongoing NU7 governance process is offering a separate development catalyst. Zcash Labs has set September 14 as the end date for the coinholder vote, during which eligible ZEC holders can participate in deciding on the scope and readiness of the NU7 protocol upgrade.
Eligibility is determined by whether funds were spendable and shielded in the Ironwood pool at the August 24 snapshot date.
Mini dictionary: The Ironwood pool is a Zcash shielded pool that enhances user privacy by allowing fully private transactions between shielded addresses, using advanced cryptography.
ZEC technical analysis and price outlookZEC’s daily chart shows an extended upward move since the start of September, when the price stood around $800. The 20-day exponential moving average has increased to $877.85, while the 50-day EMA sits at $710.60. Longer-term EMAs are lower, at $604.60 for 100 days and $506.00 for 200 days, with the current price maintaining strength above all of them.
Bullish momentum remains supported by these technical indicators. The Chaikin Money Flow indicator is at 0.32, indicating that buying pressure continues to outpace selling pressure even as ZEC cleared the $1,000 milestone.
Bullish daily closes above the $1,249 resistance could set the stage for a move toward $1,300. Should buyers remain in control, the next potential target area could be around $1,400.
On the four-hour chart, ZEC is trading near $1,191 after tapping the upper Bollinger Band at $1,255.16. The middle band has sharply risen to $1,074.21, suggesting that the $1,255 level is a key threshold for continuing the breakout.
The Money Flow Index on the four-hour timeframe is at 62.11, which remains below the overbought level of 80 despite the aggressive upward movement.
Failure to reclaim $1,250 could redirect attention to $1,170, an area highlighted by liquidation heatmaps. A further downside move would put the Bollinger Band midpoint at $1,074 as an important support level, and a drop below this could leave a larger gap closer to $900. As long as the price holds above this midpoint, the bullish short-term structure that began after the breakout above $1,000 is expected to remain intact.
EMA timeframeLevel20-day EMA$877.8550-day EMA$710.60100-day EMA$604.60200-day EMA$506.00
Zcash (ZEC) za 24 hodin vzrostl asi o 19 % na zhruba 1 220 USD a dostal se na 9. místo mezi kryptoměnami. Při růstu bylo zlikvidováno asi 54,3 milionu USD v pákových pozicích, z toho většina shortů.
Zcash (ZEC) has inflicted heavy losses on bearish traders following another leg higher.
Roughly $54.3 million worth of leveraged ZEC positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to derivatives data provided by CoinGlass.
Shorts accounted for an overwhelming $48.91 million of the total, compared with just $5.39 million in long liquidations.
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This means roughly 90% of all ZEC liquidations came from traders betting on the price falling.
ZEC recently traded around $1,220, up roughly 19% over 24 hours, with its market capitalization climbing above $20 billion.
Zcash is now the ninth-biggest cryptocurrency in the world, CoinGecko data shows.
ZEC has gained more than 130% over the past month and more than 2,700% over the past year.
Shorts getting crushed across the board Binance accounted for the largest portion of the liquidation wave. Approximately $20.69 million in ZEC positions were wiped out. Around $17.5 million of those were shorts.
Hyperliquid followed with $14.09 million in liquidations, almost all of which came from short positions.
The ETF tailwind Zcash is having strong momentum due to the ETF tailwind.
Grayscale launched its Zcash ETF, trading under the ZCSH ticker on NYSE Arca, on Aug. 25 after converting its existing Zcash Trust.
The product became the first U.S.-listed ETF offering direct exposure to ZEC.
By Sept. 4, the fund had already attracted at least $34.4 million in net inflows.
Its assets subsequently climbed above $400 million as ZEC's price continued to appreciate.
The ETF gives investors access to Zcash through traditional brokerage accounts without requiring them to directly hold the cryptocurrency. This boosts demand for an asset with a relatively constrained circulating supply.
Zcash prudce vzrostl a za posledních 24 hodin vyvolal likvidace za 13,24 milionu USD, z toho 11,26 milionu USD na shortech. Cena se dostala až na 1 051 USD a poprvé od roku 2018 překročila 1 000 USD.
Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Privacy token Zcash (ZEC) faces a 562% liquidation imbalance after a sharp rally forced traders betting against the token out of leveraged positions.
Zcash traded as high as $1,051 on September 4, 2026, building on a sharp surge from a low of $805 on September 3, 2026. Days ago, Zcash witnessed choppy price action as its rally could not break $888, which could be the reason behind traders' bearish stance. Instead, Zcash ripped higher, surpassing the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2018.
Zcash's latest price surge caught traders betting against Zcash's increase off guard. About $13.24 million of leveraged ZEC positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with $11.26 million coming from shorts and $1.98 million from longs, according to CoinGlass data. The percentage imbalance between longs and shorts yields 562%.
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The ZEC rally dates back to October 2025, coming out of a range that had been in place since June 2022. In April 2025, Zcash traded as low as $7.7 before a stunning comeback in October of that same year.
Zcash locks in 2,395% yearly gainsRecovering from June's low, Zcash's rally accelerated in August 2026, gaining 105% in the last 30 days and 2,395% over the past year, according to CoinGecko data.
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Contributing to the price growth are both technical and institutional developments. Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF began trading on NYSE Arca in late August under the ticker ZCSH. Separately, Digital Currency Group, which controls Grayscale, was in non-binding talks with a subsidiary to purchase 200,000 ZEC.
The developers of Zakura, a Zcash node launched in July, released cryptographic tools earlier this month that reduced the time it takes a wallet to build a private transaction from over three seconds to less than 200 milliseconds on mobile, with the aim to make the chain fast enough for everyday payments.
Zcash's price increase has pushed its market capitalization to about $17.25 billion, ranking it as the 10th-largest crypto asset by market cap.
In a new milestone, the Zcash ETF has crossed $400,000,000 in AUM, marking a new all-time high for the first and only Zcash fund.
Těžaři Zcash ve stále větším počtu opouštějí zcashd a přecházejí na Zallet, který má starý node software nahradit. Migrace podle vývojářů probíhá dobře.
Zcash miners are moving on from zcashd in growing numbers, turning instead to Zallet, the wallet designed to replace the decades-old node software. Developers reported on Thursday's Arborist Call, hosted by @ZcashFoundation, that a number of miners have switched over completely and that the migration is working well.
zcashd Reaches End of Life The shift is not voluntary for much longer. zcashd reached its final End-of-Support halt on July 18, 2026, at block height 3,417,100, and every unmodified zcashd 6.20.0 node shut down automatically at that point. The software does not support the NU6.3 network upgrade that followed shortly after. Users who have not yet moved are now being directed to either Zebra, the Rust-based consensus node developed by @ZcashFoundation, or to Zallet if they rely on the embedded wallet functionality.
Zallet is a full-node Zcash wallet written in Rust, built specifically as a replacement for the zcashd wallet. The software is still in beta, and developers have warned that breaking changes can occur at any time. Users were asked to back up old wallet.dat files before importing them into Zallet.
Beta 3 Fixes and Security Review Progress Beta 3 shipped with fixes for problems miners had reported during earlier testing. The security review by Least Authority, a firm with a long track record of auditing Zcash components, has now reached its second round, where auditors verify that previously identified issues have been properly addressed. Least Authority recently completed a broader AI-assisted security audit across several critical repositories in the Zcash ecosystem, commissioned by Zcash Community Grants, with final reports delivered in May 2026.
The Arborist Call also noted that the migration tooling has matured. The migrate-zcashd-wallet command converts a legacy wallet.dat file into a Zallet wallet.db, and the team has been encouraging community testing on both mainnet and testnet to validate wallet balances and migration flows ahead of broader adoption.
While Zallet remains under active development, the combination of a hard zcashd shutdown deadline, improving tooling, and a security review nearing completion suggests the ecosystem is moving quickly toward a full transition.
Sources:
zcashd End of Life Timeline, The zcashd Book
Zallet GitHub Repository, zcash/zallet
AI-Assisted Security Auditing in the Zcash Ecosystem, Least Authority
Zcash (ZEC) poprvé v historii prorazil nad 1 000 USD a dosáhl až 1 021 USD. Rally podpořilo spuštění prvního amerického spotového ETF ZCSH od Grayscale.
Key Highlights Zcash reached an unprecedented peak of $1,021 on September 4, marking an 88%+ surge over the previous month The first U.S.-based spot Zcash ETF (ZCSH) from Grayscale began trading on NYSE Arca on August 25 Network hashrate currently operates at 91% of its record peak of 27.9 GSol/s Top-tier Z15 Pro ASIC miners generate approximately $59.09 in daily revenue at present ZEC valuations Derivatives trading volume for ZEC exploded by 113.64% to reach $6.38 billion, while open interest expanded 34.97% to $2.16 billion On September 4, 2026, Zcash (ZEC) achieved a historic milestone by surpassing the $1,021 price level, penetrating the significant $1,000 psychological threshold for the first time in its history. This breakthrough occurred merely 10 days following Grayscale’s introduction of America’s inaugural spot Zcash ETF, trading under the ticker ZCSH on NYSE Arca since August 25.
Zcash (ZEC) Price Just one day earlier, on September 3, ZEC touched an intraday peak of $979, representing a nearly 17% single-day advance. The asset has now accumulated gains exceeding 88% over a 30-day period, while the six-month performance shows an impressive rise of approximately 353% relative to the U.S. dollar.
Prominent cryptocurrency commentary platform Crypto Banter highlighted the $1,000 breakthrough on X, observing that market participants are increasingly viewing Zcash’s confidential transaction capabilities as protection against blockchain monitoring. The platform specifically identified the Grayscale ETF introduction as a primary driver behind the price movement.
🚨ZCASH BREAKS $1,000!$ZEC pushed through $1,000, about 10 days after @Grayscale listed the first U.S. spot Zcash ETF, $ZCSH, on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25.
The move is leading the privacy coin bid as traders treat shielded transfers as a hedge against on-chain surveillance. pic.twitter.com/hMaQb8FlqR
— Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) September 4, 2026
Zcash’s fundamental value proposition revolves around privacy-centric transactions enabled through zero-knowledge proof technology. The cryptocurrency also features a maximum supply ceiling of 21 million tokens, mirroring Bitcoin’s scarcity characteristics.
Network Hashrate Approaches Historical Peak The dramatic price appreciation has triggered a substantial increase in mining participation. Zcash’s network hashrate achieved a record 27.9 GSol/s on August 28 and presently maintains levels at 91% of that all-time benchmark.
ZEC Jumps 20%, Briefly Hits $1,023 and Enters Crypto Top 10
According to Binance market data, Zcash (ZEC) gained about 20% over the past 24 hours, briefly reaching around $1,023. Its market capitalization now stands at roughly $16.96 billion, ranking it as the 10th-largest… pic.twitter.com/EnqLMx7C29
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 4, 2026
Currently, Bitmain’s Antminer Z15 Pro stands as the highest-earning ASIC mining device available, producing estimated daily returns of $59.09 at prevailing ZEC valuations, assuming electricity expenses of $0.10 per kWh. The predecessor Z15 model generates approximately $29.25 per day, securing fourth position in profitability rankings.
Inventory for both mining units has been depleted on Bitmain’s official platform. Third-party vendors are offering the Z15 Pro at prices exceeding its $4,999 manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
Futures Trading Activity Surges During Price Rally The derivatives ecosystem surrounding ZEC has experienced significant expansion concurrent with the price rally. Futures trading volume skyrocketed by 113.64% to $6.38 billion. Outstanding open interest increased by 34.97% to reach $2.16 billion. Spot market volume over a 24-hour period currently hovers around $594.6 million.
Market analyst Ali Charts shared a weekly price chart on August 31, projecting $1,800 as a feasible technical objective for ZEC, characterizing the formation as poised to “melt faces.” The analysis designated $1,000 as an initial target, with the $1,200–$1,300 range identified as subsequent resistance zones.
Critical support is established within the $700–$800 range. Maintaining price levels above this zone during potential corrections would preserve the integrity of the current bullish breakout pattern.
The September 4 advance above $1,021 represents ZEC’s inaugural trading session above the four-figure threshold.
Zcash (ZEC) za 24 hodin vyskočil zhruba o 20 % na maximum 1 023 USD a dostal se mezi 10 největších kryptoměn. Likvidace pákových pozic dosáhly 36,6 milionu USD, z toho 34,5 milionu na shortech.
Zcash (ZEC) has soared into cryptocurrency’s top 10 following a powerful rally that briefly pushed its price above $1,000, intensifying trading activity and market risk around the fast-moving asset.
Rally pushes Zcash above $1,000Zcash jumped approximately 20% in the span of 24 hours, climbing to a peak of $1,023 on Friday. This surge boosted ZEC’s market capitalization close to $17 billion, before steadying around $983 with a market cap near $16.6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The strong rally secured Zcash’s place as the 10th-largest cryptocurrency by market value, marking its highest position in years as fresh demand sent volumes soaring.
Leveraged trading intensifies volatilityOpen interest in ZEC futures rose dramatically to about 2.3 million ZEC, equivalent to nearly $2.3 billion at prevailing prices. This amount represents around 14% of Zcash’s total market capitalization, an outsized footprint that analysts say highlights aggressive positioning across derivatives markets.
The spike in leveraged activity led to heavy losses for bearish traders. Within 24 hours, roughly $36.6 million in leveraged ZEC positions were forcibly closed, with $34.5 million of liquidations targeting traders who bet against the asset’s price. Short positions accounted for approximately 94% of the reported liquidations.
A surge in short liquidations can fuel an ongoing rally further, as traders covering their positions must buy back ZEC, creating additional demand pressure.
While leveraged trading has driven sharp gains for bullish participants, analysts warn that the same leverage can amplify downside moves in the event of a reversal, given the scale of current futures positions.
MetricValue24-hour ZEC price high$1,023Current ZEC price$983Market capitalization$16.6 billionOpen interest (futures)2.3 million ZEC / $2.3 billion24-hour liquidations$36.6 millionShort liquidations$34.5 millionETF conversion fuels institutional demandThe latest rally follows a pivotal change for U.S. investors: Grayscale, a leading digital asset manager, completed the conversion of its long-standing Zcash trust into The Zcash ETF. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the ETF structure and new name in late August. Shares now trade under the ZCSH ticker, offering investors regulated brokerage-market access to ZEC.
Momentum had been building for weeks, with ZEC already moving higher after Grayscale filed an amended ETF application that included plans to list on NYSE Arca and a 2.5% management fee. These developments have returned Zcash to price levels last seen during the 2018 bull cycle, highlighting institutional progress as a major catalyst for the current surge.
Grayscale is recognized as one of the world’s largest managers of digital currency investment products, often providing traditional financial channels with access to cryptocurrencies.
Mini dictionary: ETF, or Exchange-Traded Fund, is a regulated investment product that tracks the price of an asset and can be traded like a stock, enabling broader investor access and liquidity for underlying cryptocurrencies like ZEC.
Analysts highlight risks from leverageZcash’s dramatic entry into the upper tier of the crypto market goes beyond short-term speculation. With open interest in ZEC futures now representing nearly one-seventh of the coin’s entire market value, analysts emphasize that the leverage currently propelling sharp gains could just as quickly intensify downside pressure if sentiment shifts.
The interplay of institutional products like ETFs and elevated futures activity places ZEC at the center of a key test for both new and experienced investors, as the asset’s liquidity and price trajectory remain tightly linked to broader trends in cryptocurrency markets.
SEC schválila rozšíření pravidel Nasdaq Texas pro „digitální komodity“ a v dokumentu označila BTC, ETH, SOL a XRP za digitální komodity pro ETF. Přílivy do XRP ETF zároveň trvají už 11 seancí.
The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant rally on Friday, September 4, 2026, as a major short squeeze unfolded and key regulatory news broke from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Data from CoinGlass indicated that 105,019 traders saw positions worth $566.90 million liquidated in the past 24 hours, with $478.91 million of these from short positions. The total crypto market capitalization reached $2.711 trillion, expanding to $2.82 trillion when derivatives are included.
Regulatory action reshapes crypto landscapeThe SEC issued Order No. 34-106268, granting Nasdaq Texas, LLC accelerated approval to amend Rule 5711(d) to define “digital commodity” in its rules, legalize actively managed crypto strategies, and permit ETFs to hold up to 15% of their net asset value in instruments that initially do not meet strict eligibility criteria.
In the order, the SEC named Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP as digital commodities that currently qualify for inclusion in these products. This represents a formal acknowledgment within the exchange’s governance framework, though it does not carry the force of law nationwide.
The SEC’s move follows a wave of decisions from 2025 and 2026, including the September 2025 reduction of crypto ETP approval times from 240 days to 75 days and a March 2026 joint SEC and CFTC interpretation that classified a group of cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, AVAX, DOGE, SHIB, and LINK, as commodities.
In June, regulators cleared T. Rowe Price’s multi-asset crypto ETF, TKNZ, which can flexibly rotate holdings among these coins.
Despite this momentum, legal certainty remains pending. The Senate will hold a vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15, while the House of Representatives has signaled potential delays after canceling its September legislative sessions. The National Sheriffs’ Association, in a recent letter, withdrew objections to DeFi, adopting a neutral position and reducing some lobbying pressure. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse commented, “Making America the crypto capital of the world is within reach — let’s finish the job.”
Making America the crypto capital of the world is within reach — let’s finish the job.
Market rally driven by economic data and ETFsThe rally followed comments by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who pointed to ongoing disinflation and supported stable interest rates at the Fed’s upcoming meeting. This calmed some market tensions, while the Japanese yen strengthened 2% amid speculation about a rate hike from Japan’s central bank.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $730.87 million in daily inflows, with BlackRock’s IBIT contributing $454 million and pushing total BTC fund assets above $103.34 billion—equivalent to 6.32% of all Bitcoin in circulation. Ethereum ETFs gained $141.24 million, leading to $115.08 million in ETH short liquidations.
Zcash soars 2,300% on AI privacy demand and ETF inclusionZcash (ZEC) climbed 94% over the last 30 days and more than 2,300% in the past year, driven by a sharp short squeeze and renewed privacy concerns as artificial intelligence technology advances. CoinGlass reported $36.46 million in forced ZEC liquidations, nearly all from short positions, with open interest reaching $2.3 billion.
The introduction of OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model, which scored 98.6% on the ARC-AGI-3 benchmark and enables fully autonomous computer operation, sparked further investor attention. After AI agents were found to have made over 15,000 unauthorized edits to the DseWiki database in Germany, privacy-focused investors looked to Zcash’s zero-knowledge technology as a protective measure against automated surveillance.
In parallel, Nasdaq’s new 15% net asset value buffer rule allowed asset managers to buy ZEC for regulated multi-asset funds, further fueling the short squeeze.
Mini dictionary: Zero-knowledge technology refers to cryptographic protocols that allow one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. Zcash employs this technology to provide enhanced privacy for blockchain transactions.
Institutional flows and industry restructuringSpot XRP ETFs continued their inflow streak to 11 sessions, accumulating a total of $1.68 billion, with $6.14 million added in a single day. Daily liquidations for XRP stayed modest at $11.39 million. RLUSD stablecoin supply on the XRP Ledger surpassed $1 billion, and the network received approval from the Bank for International Settlements to record official statistics.
On-chain data revealed large-scale Ethereum sales, with one institution selling 29,735 ETH valued at $72.1 million. Abraxas Capital maintained a $291.4 million short hedge on Hyperliquid, and Multicoin Capital transferred 150,000 HYPE tokens, worth $12.8 million, to Coinbase.
The sector also saw ongoing risk management and listing adjustments. After a $1.7 million exploit at Notional Finance, Binance placed AVA, GNS, SCR, and TOWNS under a Monitoring Tag, and announced the listing of MarsCoin (MARSCOIN) with a Seed Tag. KuCoin and Kraken are set to follow with their own reviews on September 7 and 11, respectively.
This period of explosive growth represents a shift toward maturity as major crypto assets like BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP channel liquidity through regulated ETF products.
The bitcoin-to-gold ratio climbed above 18, its highest level since January, though analysts noted that historic ETF inflows often precede local corrections. September seasonality—dubbed “Rektember” by traders—is considered a significant risk ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting and the Senate’s CLARITY Act vote, both scheduled for the middle of the month.
Asset30-day Performance (%)1-year Performance (%)ETF Inflows (Latest, $ million)Zcash (ZEC)942,300Included in new ETF allocationXRPN/AN/A6.14 (daily), 1,680 (cumulative)Bitcoin (BTC)N/AN/A730.87 (daily), 454 from BlackRock IBITEthereum (ETH)N/AN/A141.24
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Major crypto exchange Coinbase has added support for two new wrapped assets: Zcash (ZEC) and Hyperliquid (HYPE).
In a recent post, Coinbase announced that cbHYPE and cbZEC are now live on Base. Zcash and Hyperliquid join the roster of wrapped assets supported on Coinbase, including Bitcoin (cbBTC), Ethereum (cbETH), XRP (cbXRP), Dogecoin (cbDOGE), Cardano (cbADA), Litecoin (cbLTC), and MegaETH (cbMEGA).
According to Coinbase, wrapped assets cbHYPE and cbZEC are ERC-20 tokens backed 1:1 by Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Zcash (ZEC) held in custody by Coinbase.
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Coinbase wrapped assets are fully transferable tokens that represent ownership of the underlying asset. Users can unwrap and redeem a corresponding amount of the underlying asset simply by depositing the wrapped asset into their Coinbase accounts.
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The recent addition of support for Zcash and Hyperliquid expands their utility, as it will allow holders to use their assets on-chain across a range of DeFi apps like every other wrapped asset Coinbase supports, which may allow them to borrow, lend, and put their assets to work in different ways.
Warning issuedAmid the excitement of the launch of Coinbase wrapped assets for Hyperliquid and Zcash, the crypto exchange warns that there may be fraudulent actors pretending to be cbHYPE and cbZEC.
There may be fraudulent actors pretending to be cbHYPE and cbZEC. The Base contract addresses for cbHYPE and cbZEC are:
— Coinbase Markets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseMarkets) September 1, 2026 Because these wrapped assets are only live on the Layer 2 blockchain Base, Coinbase shared the official Base contract addresses for cbHYPE and cbZEC.
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"There may be fraudulent actors pretending to be cbHYPE and cbZEC. The Base contract addresses for cbHYPE and cbZEC are cbHYPE: 0xB200000000000000000000451d033a5000cb479e, cbZEC: 0xB2000000000000000000008501b13360000cb2EC," Coinbase wrote.
The warning remains particularly relevant for newly launched tokens, where users may encounter unofficial contract addresses or accounts claiming to represent the legitimate asset.
Scammers often use impersonation and social engineering to trick users into transferring cryptocurrency or revealing sensitive account information, with the intent of stealing funds; hence, crypto users are urged to be vigilant.
Zcash’s privacy features just got a significant security upgrade. Vizorwallet has confirmed that it successfully signed a shielded ZEC transaction on a Ledger hardware wallet, marking a milestone for users who want both privacy and cold storage protection for their Zcash holdings.
For years, Ledger’s Zcash support was limited to transparent transactions, essentially treating ZEC like any other public-ledger coin. Now, with a dedicated “Zcash Shielded” app available on select Ledger devices, users can finally keep their private keys offline while still taking advantage of Zcash’s shielded transaction capabilities.
How the integration actually works Rather than building shielded functionality directly into its native Ledger Live interface, the company released a standalone “Zcash Shielded” app that works in combination with compatible third-party wallets.
The Ledger device holds your private keys and handles the signing. A companion wallet, such as Zkool or Vizor, manages the shielded accounts and constructs the transactions. The Ledger never exposes your keys, while the companion wallet never has full custody.
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The shielded app is currently supported on the Nano S Plus, Stax, and Flex devices. Notably absent from that list: the Nano X and Gen5 models, which don’t support the app as of the latest available information.
This architecture supports Zcash’s Orchard and Sapling shielded protocols, the cryptographic frameworks that make private transactions possible on the network.
Vizor’s role in the privacy puzzle Vizorwallet, built by the team behind the popular Keplr wallet, was designed from the ground up with privacy as the default setting. Unlike many Zcash wallets that default to transparent transactions and treat shielding as an opt-in feature, Vizor flips that assumption.
The self-custodial wallet offers multi-account support and has already integrated with Keystone hardware wallets. But Ledger compatibility had been a sticking point, with earlier constraints preventing the signing of shielded ZEC transactions on Ledger devices.
The successful signing of a shielded transaction on a Ledger, announced by Vizorwallet, suggests the technical integration between the two platforms has reached a functional state. This gives Vizor users a second hardware wallet option for securing their shielded ZEC, alongside the existing Keystone support.
Zkool Wallet has also served as a primary companion app for managing shielded accounts on Ledger devices, with comprehensive guides available for users navigating the setup process.
Why shielded transactions matter Zcash offers both transparent transactions, which work just like Bitcoin, and shielded transactions, which use zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt transaction details while still allowing the network to verify their validity.
Approximately 26% of ZEC’s total supply currently sits in shielded pools, suggesting a meaningful and growing portion of the user base actively values the privacy features that differentiate Zcash from other assets.
The Ironwood update, also known as NU6.3, brought enhancements that improved the protocols underlying shielded transactions. Prior to updates rolled out around September 2025, Ledger’s Zcash capabilities were restricted to transparent transactions, with only limited deshielding support added later.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Three seconds doesn’t sound like a long time until you’re staring at a loading screen every time you want to send a private transaction. Zakura, the developer behind a Zcash full node client, just released an open-source library called Zakura Common that compresses shielded transaction creation from over three seconds to under 200 milliseconds.
The upgrade does not require a hard fork, a consensus change, or anything that would force the Zcash network to coordinate a synchronized update. Compatible wallets can simply integrate the new library and start serving faster transactions immediately.
The numbers behind the speed boost Mobile proof generation, the computation-heavy step that makes shielded transactions possible on phones, is now more than 14 times faster. Desktop performance improved by over five times. Sinsemilla hashing, a core cryptographic operation used in Zcash’s Orchard protocol, saw a 21-fold improvement. Trial decryption, the process wallets use to scan the blockchain and identify incoming payments, got 1.5 times faster. And zk-SNARK verification, the zero-knowledge proof system that underpins Zcash’s privacy guarantees, now runs four to eight times quicker.
The library is dual-licensed under MIT and Apache 2.0. It will ship as part of Zakura version 1.3.0, and wallets built on Zakura’s infrastructure, such as Vizor, can integrate the improvements without waiting for broader network coordination.
Why shielded transaction speed matters Sean Bowe, co-founder of both Zcash and Zakura, highlighted the practical significance of the release. He noted that the libraries deliver measurable benefits for shielded wallets and full nodes, enhancing responsiveness and user experience without requiring rule changes.
Market reaction and broader context ZEC, Zcash’s native token, jumped approximately 5% following the Zakura Common announcement.
The release fits into a larger roadmap. Zakura has been building toward high-throughput private payments through its node software, and the broader Tachyon initiative aims to improve scalability across the Zcash network, wallets, and verification processes. Zakura Common will be integrated as part of Zakura v1.3.0, and focuses solely on enhancing existing shielded functionalities without altering the fundamental monetary policy or introducing new trust assumptions.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Zcash price [ZEC] has returned above $800 as holders consider changes that could impact the network’s speed and issuance.
ZEC traded near $826 at the time of writing after falling briefly to the $773 level. The recovery comes during a time when it’s seeing a sharp weekly rally, even as the price remains below its recent peak near $890.
Zcash coinholders weigh five NU7 questions The NU7 coinholder poll asks eligible ZEC holders to vote on five questions concerning Zcash’s next major network upgrade.
One of the proposals is asking for the current four-year halving cycle to be replaced with a smoother reduction in new issuance. Supporters of this proposal believe that this would give miners and users greater certainty instead of cutting rewards suddenly at fixed intervals.
Coinholders are also considering whether part of the network’s transaction fees should return to future block rewards. Other questions cover retiring the old Sprout transaction system and allowing NU7 to proceed if some planned features face delays.
Another proposal would reduce Zcash’s block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, which means users would wait less time for transactions to appear on the network.
Cypherpunk Technologies has published its recommended positions on all five questions. The Zcash-focused treasury company strongly supports faster blocks, citing test results that it believes show the network can handle the change.
The poll is also advisory, and its result will only show what participating coinholders prefer, but it does not guarantee that every supported proposal will enter NU7.
ZEC recovers after falling below $800 ZEC’s return above $800 follows a positive move from around $500 within several trading sessions.
The rally briefly took it towards $890 before sellers stepped in, and then it dropped below $800, reaching $773 during the latest session. But buyers pushed it back to around $826.
Source: TradingView That leaves $850–$880 as the next area to overcome, as a move beyond the recent high could bring $900 into view.
The first support sits around $780, and if that level fails, the price could return to $750, an area where buyers previously responded.
There was a lot of trading activity during the initial surge, but it has since reduced. That does not end the rally, but it suggests the latest rebound has led to less activity compared to the move that took its price to $800.
Final Summary Zcash holders are voting on faster blocks, issuance changes and other NU7 questions. ZEC recovered from a fall to $773 to around $826, leaving $850–$880 as its next test.
Grayscale Research říká, že Zcash má tři výhody, které Bitcoin nemá, a může si ukrojit jeho podíl na trhu. ZEC zároveň vystřelil na nejvyšší cenu od roku 2018.
Grayscale Research says Zcash (ZEC) has a real chance of capturing Bitcoin’s (BTC) market share, citing three features that the largest digital currency lacks.
The note landed as the asset manager launched the first spot ZEC exchange-traded product (ETP), and the token hit its highest price since 2018.
Bitcoin Controls 93% of the Currencies SectorGrayscale sorts crypto assets by use case through its Crypto Sectors framework. Bitcoin accounts for 93% of the Currencies category by market capitalization.
Head of Research Zach Pandl wrote that earlier rivals such as Litecoin (LTC) did not mount a serious challenge. He added that deep network effects have kept rivals small. Many investors never diversify past Bitcoin inside the category, he added.
The gap remains wide today. Bitcoin trades near $78,645, with a market cap of roughly $1.58 trillion.
Zcash sits far behind, with ZEC trading near $790 and a market value of about $13.3 billion. That ranks it 12th overall.
The token is therefore worth less than 1% of Bitcoin. It reached that level after rising roughly 19-fold over the past year.
Grayscale reads that distance as room for competition rather than evidence against it.
The 3 Features Grayscale Says Bitcoin LacksPandl framed Zcash as a second mover with advantages that Bitcoin could not adopt at launch. Financial privacy tops the list, which he tied to the spread of AI-powered surveillance.
Second, Zcash developers continue to work on cybersecurity risks, including future quantum threats to classical cryptography. The third feature is the “intents” technology in modern wallets.
“Zcash does not require widespread merchant adoption—you (or your AI agent) can use it as a private asset hub with universal connectivity through intents,” Pandl said.
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Grayscale Research believes Zcash $ZEC has a real shot at capturing Bitcoin $BTC market share.
@Zcash has second mover advantages Bitcoin doesn't:
↳ Financial privacy in an era of AI-powered surveillance
↳ Cross-chain reach through $NEAR Intents
↳ Active development against… pic.twitter.com/EezUCAdUET
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) August 27, 2026 Grayscale modeled what those features could be worth. Using a five-year supply estimate, the firm put ZEC at $1,622 if it reaches 2% of Bitcoin’s market share, and at $8,109 if it reaches 10%.
Zcash (ZEC) Price Implied by Potential Share of Bitcoin Market Capitalization. Source: Grayscale InvestmentsZEC traded near $790 on Friday, so those scenarios imply gains of roughly 105% and 927%. Grayscale called the projections hypothetical and illustrative.
The firm still labeled the asset high-risk and warned that any gains would not be linear. Pandl acknowledged that transparency, simplicity, and liquidity support Bitcoin’s position.
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Zájem o ZEC na sociálních sítích vyprchal už před spuštěním spotového ETF od Grayscale. Zmínky dosáhly 232 22. srpna, den před cenovým maximem, pak se vrátily na běžnou úroveň.
Social chatter around ZEC hit six times its August baseline before the price peak, then vanished as the ETF launched.
Zcash has been one of the best-performing assets this year. It has managed to attract significant institutional capital. This week, asset manager Grayscale Investments launched the first exchange-traded fund that tracks the spot price of ZEC.
But interest in the privacy-focused token peaked shortly before its price reached a recent high.
Zcash Crowd Showed Up Early Data shared by Santiment revealed that social chatter faded by the time the ZEC spot ETF launched. Grayscale converted its 2017 Zcash trust into a spot ETF, which began trading on NYSE Arca on August 25.
Ahead of the launch, the asset climbed from around $509 on August 18 to about $878 on August 23, posting a gain of roughly 72%. Social mentions reached 232 on August 22, which is around six times the usual August baseline. However, that surge in attention did not last.
Mentions had returned to their baseline level by the ETF’s launch day. According to Santiment, social activity peaked one day before ZEC’s price high, which suggested that much of the crowd interest arrived ahead of the market’s high.
Since reaching about $878, the token has pulled back to roughly $789, a decline of around 10% from the recent peak.
Zcash Challenging Bitcoin? Grayscale Research believes ZEC could emerge as a serious challenger to Bitcoin’s network effects as demand for financial privacy grows. In a report by Head of Research Zach Pandl, the firm said Bitcoin remains dominant among digital currencies. While alternatives such as Litecoin have emerged, none has seriously challenged BTC’s position.
You may also like: Grayscale’s Zcash ETF Starts Trading on NYSE Arca With a 2.5% Sponsor Fee Grayscale Discloses Talks Over 200,000 ZEC Contribution to Zcash Trust From DCG Unit Grayscale CEO Files to Sell $53K of GXRP Shares Bought Before Ripple ETF Listing Grayscale, however, stated that Zcash could be different because it combines Bitcoin-like characteristics with privacy features that may become more important as AI-powered surveillance expands. The report also points to the ecosystem’s active development, which aims to address cybersecurity risks, including potential threats to traditional cryptography from quantum computing.
Another advantage is its cross-chain reach through “intents” technology built into modern blockchain wallets, which allows Zcash to function as a private asset hub without requiring broad merchant adoption. ZEC has already gained around 19 times over the past year but remains worth less than 1% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization. Grayscale said Zcash’s financial privacy and other features may be undervalued, thereby leaving room for further upside.
THORChain 3.20 přidává nativní směny Monero (XMR) a Zcash (ZEC) za Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) a stablecoiny bez wrapped verzí. Uživatelé tak mohou obchodovat přímo, bez centralizované burzy a bez předání úschovy.
George Town, Cayman Islands, 25th August 2026, ChainwireBy Chainwire
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George Town, Cayman Islands, August 25th, 2026, Chainwire
THORChain, a decentralized exchange, announced the launch of THORChain 3.20, an upgrade introducing native support for Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) swaps.
Until now, moving between privacy coins such as XMR or ZEC and the crypto market has required users to rely on centralized exchanges, custodial services, or additional intermediary steps. With THORChain 3.20, users can natively swap XMR and ZEC against assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and stablecoins directly through THORChain.
No wrapped versions of XMR or ZEC are required. Users do not need to create an account or hand custody of their assets to a centralized entity. This is a significantly more direct route between privacy-focused cryptocurrencies and the most widely used assets in crypto.
For Monero holders, access to the broader crypto market has become an increasingly important issue as XMR continues to be removed or restricted by centralized exchanges. THORChain’s integration provides an alternative based on native assets and self-custody rather than requiring users to deposit their coins with an exchange.
The release is one of THORChain’s most significant upgrades to date. In addition to Monero and Zcash integration, version 3.20 introduces several broader changes to the protocol, including Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) and the new Stable Reserve, alongside renewed support for Solana, Base, and BNB. The Stable Reserve introduces stablecoin-to-stablecoin swaps with no liquidity fees, and Protocol-Owned Liquidity gives THORChain additional mechanisms for deploying protocol capital across the network.
The move builds on THORChain’s core proposition of allowing users to exchange native cryptocurrencies across otherwise disconnected blockchain networks without handing control of their assets to an intermediary.
THORChain already enables native cross-chain swaps across assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum. The addition of privacy-focused networks expands that model into an area of the crypto market where decentralized access has been far more limited until today.
About THORChain
THORChain is a decentralized exchange that enables users to swap native digital assets across different blockchain networks without relying on wrapped assets or centralized custodians. It allows users to exchange assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other supported cryptocurrencies while maintaining a self-custodial experience.
Zcash vystřelil na nejvyšší úroveň od roku 2018 po růstu o více než 50 % za čtyři dny. Open interest v perpetual futures ZEC se za pět dní zvýšil z 962,5 milionu USD na 1,8 miliardy USD.
In brief Zcash reached its highest price since 2018 after gaining more than 50% in four days. Open interest in ZEC perpetual futures rose from $963 million to $1.8 billion in five days. Crowded futures markets can intensify both short squeezes and selloffs. Zcash briefly reached $888—its highest price level since 2018—before pulling back to around $843, up nearly 7% over 24 hours and roughly 48% since August 20.
The privacy coin, which trades as ZEC, remains well short of a record all-time high of $3,191.93, set in October 2016 during the coin’s earliest days of trading when liquidity was thin. The coin dropped as low as $16 just two years ago and has been on a remarkable run since, appreciating by over 1,800% in the last year alone.
Myriad: Bitcoin next price move? Click to make your prediction.ZEC perpetual futures open interest nearly doubled from $962.5 million on August 19 to $1.8 billion Monday, while 24-hour volume reached $5.3 billion, according to crypto derivatives data platform Loris Tools. The average eight-hour funding rate was 0.0106%, meaning traders paid a premium to hold long positions.
ZEC futures let traders bet on Zcash’s price without owning the coin, often with leverage. Open interest tracks outstanding contracts, while positive funding signals stronger demand for long positions—raising the risk of a short squeeze if ZEC rises or long liquidations if it falls.
Interest in Zcash grew over the last year as investors searched for an alternative to Bitcoin with stronger privacy protections. Zcash, a type of privacy coin, makes it difficult to track transactions on the network by shielding balances, unlike traditional cryptocurrencies—such as Bitcoin or Ethereum—which are transparent by default.
Interest in the coin further grew after Grayscale filed to convert its Zcash Trust into an ETF in November. The proposal is still under review.
What bullishness the Grayscale news may have garnered was tested in June, when ZEC plunged from $635 to $309 after developers using Claude Opus 4.8 disclosed a flaw in its Orchard shielded pool that could have enabled undetectable counterfeiting.
Developers issued an emergency patch in June, then activated the Ironwood upgrade in July. Ironwood retired Orchard and introduced accounting safeguards designed to trap any counterfeit ZEC in the old pool. Developers could not determine whether the flaw had been exploited.
Winklevoss-backed Cypherpunk Technologies launched a Zcash mining operation in August that it estimates represents 18% of the network’s hashrate. The company holds about 323,394 ZEC, around $268 million, and aims to acquire 5% of the circulating supply.
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Grayscale podala dodatek k registraci, aby převedla Grayscale Zcash Trust na spotový Zcash ETF. Cílí na listing na NYSE Arca kolem 25. srpna, ale schválení ještě není jisté.
Grayscale has filed Amendment No. 5 to its Form S-3 registration statement as part of its effort to convert the Grayscale Zcash Trust into a spot Zcash ETF.
The filing, submitted on August 21, targets a listing on NYSE Arca on or about August 25, according to the filing materials. It also discloses a 2.5% annual management fee and a cash-create, cash-redemption model.
That makes the filing notable for two reasons.
First, it shows the crypto ETF market continues to expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Second, it brings a privacy-focused asset like Zcash back into a regulated product conversation.
But the key caution is simple: the listing is not final until the necessary regulatory clearance is in place.
TL;DR Grayscale filed Amendment No. 5 for a proposed spot Zcash ETF conversion. The filing targets a NYSE Arca listing on or about August 25. The ETF should not be described as approved or finalized unless regulators clear it. Why A Zcash ETF Is Different Zcash is not just another altcoin.
It is one of crypto’s best-known privacy-focused networks. Its optional shielded transaction design has long made it an important part of the privacy debate, but also a more sensitive asset from a regulatory perspective.
That makes an ETF filing more interesting.
Bitcoin ETF approval was about institutional access to digital gold. Ethereum ETF approval expanded that access into smart contract infrastructure. A Zcash ETF would test whether regulated markets are willing to support a product tied to privacy technology.
That is a very different conversation.
Grayscale Is Extending Its Conversion Playbook Grayscale has used trust-to-ETF conversion strategies before.
The model gives existing trust products a path toward more liquid, exchange-traded structures, assuming regulators and exchanges approve the necessary steps. For investors, an ETF wrapper can improve accessibility, liquidity, pricing efficiency, and brokerage availability.
In Zcash’s case, the structure would move the product into a more visible market venue.
The proposed NYSE Arca listing target gives traders a date to watch, but it should not be treated as guaranteed. ETF conversion timelines can shift depending on SEC comments, exchange processes, and final approvals.
The Fee Tells Investors Something The filing’s 2.5% annual management fee stands out.
That is high compared with mainstream spot Bitcoin ETF fees. It may reflect a more specialized product, smaller expected asset base, operational complexity, custody costs, or lower competitive pressure.
Investors will judge whether the fee makes sense relative to the product’s niche.
A privacy-coin ETF would not necessarily compete directly with low-cost Bitcoin funds. It would serve a narrower investor base seeking exposure to ZEC through a regulated wrapper.
Still, fees matter.
Cash Creation And Redemption Keeps The Structure Conservative The cash-create and cash-redemption model is also important.
Under that structure, authorized participants generally create or redeem shares using cash rather than delivering or receiving the underlying crypto asset directly. This is a familiar structure in parts of the crypto ETF market and can simplify operational handling.
It may also reflect regulatory caution.
For a privacy-focused asset, cash-based mechanics may be more comfortable for traditional market participants than in-kind transfers of ZEC.
That does not remove every regulatory concern, but it shapes how the product would operate.
What To Watch Next The next thing to watch is whether the listing date holds and whether any additional regulatory comments emerge.
If the ETF clears its remaining hurdles, Zcash would gain a much more prominent regulated market wrapper. If the process is delayed, the filing still shows that issuers are pushing the boundaries of what crypto ETF products can include.
The broader message is clear.
Crypto ETFs are no longer only about Bitcoin and Ethereum. Issuers are testing how far regulated access can extend across the asset class.
With Zcash, that test now touches privacy technology directly.
This article is based on Grayscale’s SEC filing materials for the proposed Zcash ETF conversion.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
NYSE Arca schválila zařazení Zcash ETF od Grayscale k obchodování, které má začít v úterý 25. srpna pod tickerem ZCSH. Pokud spustí podle plánu, půjde o první americké spot ETF s expozicí na digitální aktivum zaměřené na soukromí.
NYSE Arca Greenlights Grayscale's Zcash ETFNYSE Arca has formally certified its approval for the listing of The Zcash ETF, according to filings on SEC EDGAR dated August 24. The fund is expected to begin exchange trading as soon as Tuesday, August 25, under the ticker ZCSH.
If it goes live as planned, the product would be the first US spot ETF offering exposure to a privacy-focused digital asset.
From OTC Trust to Exchange-Traded FundThe move marks a significant structural shift for the product.
The conversion moves @Zcash exposure from over-the-counter quotes to continuous exchange trading. The fund carries a 2.5% annual fee.
$ZEC eased to around $820 as the approval landed, though the token remains roughly 58% higher on the week and close to eight-year highs.
Sources:
SEC EDGAR: NYSE Arca Listing Certification for The Zcash ETF
Crowdfund Insider: Grayscale Advances Plans for Spot Zcash ETF
The Globe and Mail: Grayscale Zcash Trust Plans NYSE Arca Listing, ETF Rebrand
Držitelé Zcash (ZEC) budou hlasovat o upgradu NU7, přičemž rozhodující je snapshot v hlavním řetězci na bloku 3 459 350. Hlasování proběhne od 25. srpna do 14. září v 22:00 GMT+3 a vyžaduje shieldované ZEC v Ironwoodu.
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Through the NU7 Coinholder Vote, Zcash (ZEC) holders will have a direct chance to impact the extent of the network's impending NU7 upgrade. This process grants eligible ZEC holders voting power linked to their shielded holdings, in contrast to governance mechanisms based on validator participation or delegated voting. A snapshot at Zcash mainnet block 3,459,350, which is currently projected for August, determines eligibility.
When does the vote take place?Around 22:20 GMT+3 on August 24, 2026. The authoritative factor is the block height, not the estimated time. One important prerequisite is that ZEC must be shielded, spendable, and stored in Ironwood at the time of the snapshot. Coins kept in Orchard, Sapling, or Sprout and transparent ZEC are ineligible unless they have already been migrated. Likewise, ZEC kept on exchanges or other networks needs to be transferred into Ironwood's self-custody.
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Crucially, holders are not required to maintain their ZEC throughout the voting period. The coins can be transferred once block 3,459,350 determines eligibility. Voting starts on August 25 and ends on September 14 at 22:00 GMT+3. Vizor, Zashi, and Zkool are among the supported wallets, and users of Keystone hardware wallets can take part without removing their keys from the device.
A number of potentially important Zcash changes are on the ballot. The rate at which new ZEC enters circulation, when previously removed ZEC should return through future block rewards, and when the network should disable legacy Sprout transactions are all options for holders to express their preferences.
Other concerns include whether Zcash's block interval should be shortened and how developers should handle NU7 features that are not ready on time, such as delaying NU7 until all authorized functionality is finished or shipping the upgrade without them. The process continues to be centered on privacy.
What Are ZEC Voters Choosing? The voting system employs homomorphic encryption, which encrypts each choice and the associated ZEC amounts while the votes are being processed. After voting is over, only the aggregate ZEC totals for each response are available. To lessen balance-linkability, each vote is further split into 16 unlinkable ballots.
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As a result, the NU7 vote serves as more than just a local survey. It provides ZEC holders with a privacy-preserving, stake-weighted way to indicate how Zcash should handle legacy infrastructure, monetary policy, and the technical details of its upcoming significant network upgrade.
Zcash dokončil 85 % nouzové migrace z kompromitovaného Orchard do Ironwood; v Orchard zbývá 3 % celkové nabídky. Ironwood mezitím nasbíral přes 3,7 milionu ZEC.
Zcash’s emergency migration from its compromised Orchard shielded pool to the new Ironwood pool has hit the 85% mark, with just 3% of the total supply still sitting in Orchard.
The Ironwood pool has already accumulated over 3.7 million ZEC, with migration speeds reportedly reaching thousands of ZEC per hour.
From bug discovery to full migration On May 29, 2026, Zcash developers discovered a soundness vulnerability in the Orchard shielded pool. The flaw could have allowed undetectable counterfeiting of ZEC.
The response came in two phases. First, an emergency patch to stop the bleeding. Then, the more comprehensive NU6.3 upgrade, which introduced Ironwood as a replacement pool with formal verification and quantum-resilient cryptographic elements.
Ironwood went live on July 28, 2026, at block 3,428,143. At that moment, the Orchard pool was officially sealed. Users were expected to move their funds voluntarily through a turnstile mechanism defined by ZIP-318, which preserves privacy during the transfer process.
At the time Ironwood activated, shielded supply in Orchard represented roughly 25% of all circulating ZEC.
Why 85% matters more than it sounds Mid-August snapshots had the migration at 79.2% complete. The jump to 85% suggests the pace hasn’t meaningfully slowed, even as the remaining pool shrinks.
Wallet providers have been doing the heavy lifting on the user experience side. Cake Wallet and ZODL are among the platforms facilitating the migration, making the process accessible to non-technical holders.
The turnstile mechanism routes transfers through individual wallet actions. Each user initiates their own migration, and the protocol handles the privacy-preserving handoff.
Quantum resistance enters the picture The Ironwood upgrade introduced quantum-resilient cryptographic components. The formal verification applied to Ironwood’s circuits also addresses the root cause of the original vulnerability. Formal verification uses automated mathematical proofs to ensure that the cryptographic circuits behave exactly as specified.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Zcash is emerging as one of the stars of the sudden broad-based rally in crypto assets that went into high gear last week. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency has surged 66% over the past week, hitting an eight-year high of $841 on Monday.
Its surge came after investment manager Grayscale filed an amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to convert its existing Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund. If approved, the fund would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ZCSH.
Zcash’s strong performance comes amid a broader rally across the crypto market. Cryptocurrencies have risen sharply since Wednesday, posting gains not seen in nearly a year. The Treasury Department’s bond-buyback announcement helped spark the move, while renewed political support for the industry and a wave of short-position liquidations pushed prices even higher. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, continued to climb and was trading just below $80,000 on Monday.
For Zcash, Grayscale’s proposed ETF came as an additional catalyst. If approved, the fund would give investors a regulated way to gain exposure to ZEC, Zcash’s native token, through their brokerage accounts, without having to buy or hold the token directly.
Its outperformance has revived discussion of whether Zcash can emerge as a more prominent alternative to Bitcoin for investors seeking financial privacy. Unlike Bitcoin, Zcash allows users to shield transaction details, such as the sender, recipient, and transaction amount, using zero-knowledge cryptography.
Zcash supporters say that it improves on Bitcoin by offering Bitcoin’s fixed supply without the public ledger. As artificial intelligence grows, proponents argue that so will the risk of government surveillance.
“Many are calling it ‘perfect Bitcoin,’” Arjun Khemani, a cryptographer and engineer, wrote on X.
Influential crypto voices have also been speaking out about Zcash’s use cases. During a meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee on Friday, Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss pointed to Zcash as an example of how developers can use artificial intelligence to identify vulnerabilities in complex blockchain code and strengthen networks before malicious actors exploit them.
But Zcash’s strongest feature is also its greatest limitation. Its privacy features make it harder for exchanges and law enforcement to trace illicit funds, potentially making Zcash a more attractive vehicle for money laundering or sanctions evasion.
Grayscale podal pátý dodatek k navrhovanému Zcash ETF, který počítá s tickerem ZCH, listingem na NYSE Arca a ročním poplatkem 2,5 %. Schválení SEC ale stále chybí.
TLDR: Zcash ETF terms now include the planned ZCH ticker, an NYSE Arca listing and a 2.5% annual sponsor fee after Grayscale filed its fifth amendment. BNY Mellon would serve as transfer agent, while Coinbase Custody would safeguard the ZEC supporting continuously issued fund shares. The existing Grayscale Zcash Trust held over $260 million when the amendment appeared, giving the conversion an established asset base. A potential 200,000 ZEC contribution from a DCG affiliate remains nonbinding, while the SEC has not approved the proposed conversion. Grayscale has filed a fifth amendment for its proposed Zcash ETF, adding clearer details that move the conversion process forward. The Friday filing names ZCH as the planned ticker and sets a 2.5% annual sponsor fee. It also renames the existing product The Zcash ETF and confirms plans for an NYSE Arca listing.
The ZEC price jumped about 29% around the disclosure, trading near $740 on Saturday. The filing does not represent SEC approval or confirm a launch date. It instead gives investors clearer terms for the converted Grayscale Zcash Trust. Regulators must still allow its shares to begin trading.
Zcash (ZEC) Price Zcash ETF filing fixes fee, ticker and operating roles The amended registration assigns operating roles for the proposed fund. Bank of New York Mellon would serve as transfer agent. Coinbase Custody Trust Company would safeguard the ZEC held for shareholders.
Grayscale also plans to issue an indeterminate number of shares continuously. Sale prices would reference ZEC and the shares’ trading price on NYSE Arca. This structure allows the share count to expand when demand requires new creation baskets.
A listed Zcash ETF could address a recurring weakness of the over-the-counter trust. Its shares can trade above or below their underlying asset value when arbitrage options stay limited. ETF creation and redemption processes help market makers narrow those gaps, although close tracking is never guaranteed.
Investors would gain ZEC price exposure through brokerage accounts without managing wallets or keys. They would own fund shares rather than ZEC itself. Therefore, shareholders could not use the coins for transparent or shielded transfers on the Zcash network.
The 2.5% sponsor fee would create a drag on returns relative to holding ZEC directly. Grayscale would deduct the charge from fund assets, gradually reducing each share’s cryptocurrency entitlement.
The Grayscale Zcash Trust began operating in 2017 and held over $260 million when Friday’s amendment appeared. That existing asset base gives the proposed Zcash ETF a portfolio before any conversion occurs. It also separates this application from a newly seeded product with no operating record.
Grayscale has previously converted cryptocurrency trusts into listed funds. Still, each product requires its own registration review and exchange approval process.
Grayscale Trust conversion still awaits SEC clearance The fourth amendment disclosed talks involving DCG International Investments, a subsidiary of Grayscale’s parent company. The affiliate may contribute about 200,000 ZEC through an authorized participant in exchange for fund shares.
Those talks remain nonbinding. DCG International could provide more ZEC, contribute less, or abandon the transaction. The filing does not treat the amount as committed launch capital for the Zcash ETF. A changing token price also alters the dollar value attached to any eventual contribution.
Regulatory attention extends beyond the fund’s operating mechanics. Zcash supports both transparent addresses and shielded transactions, which can conceal transaction details. The proposed shares would track the asset’s market value without giving shareholders those payment functions.
If approved, the Zcash ETF would become the first US exchange-traded fund directly tied to a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. That status could test whether regulated securities wrappers can broaden access to assets carrying distinct compliance questions.
The SEC must still allow the registration statement to become effective. NYSE Arca must also have authority to list and trade the shares. A fifth amendment can reflect progress in disclosure work, but the amendment count does not guarantee approval.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said Grayscale appeared to be moving closer to conversion. He did not provide an approval date in the post.
Grayscale already offers listed products tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and XRP. Adding a Zcash ETF would extend that lineup beyond larger payment and smart-contract assets. The revised filing leaves the SEC timetable and proposed 200,000 ZEC contribution unresolved.
According to HTX market data, ZEC briefly surged past $833 this morning, hitting a new all-time high. It has rallied 67% in the past seven days, 230% in 180 days, and 1970% over the past year. Recent key catalysts include: - Grayscale filed its Fourth S-3 amendment to advance the conversion of Zcash Trust into a spot ETF (proposed ticker: ZCSH), and disclosed that a DCG subsidiary is in non-binding discussions to inject approximately 200,000 ZEC (valued at around $110 million at the time). - Cypherpunk Technologies, backed by the Winklevoss twins, launched the world’s largest ZEC mining machine cluster, controlling roughly 18% of the network’s total hash rate while continuing to increase its holdings of ZEC treasury. - Ironwood’s network upgrade (NU6.3) has gone live, fixing a previous vulnerability in the Orchard privacy pool, enhancing the security and verifiability of the shielded pool, and facilitating fund migration and restoring ecosystem confidence. Against the backdrop of rising privacy narratives and market short squeezes, ZEC has emerged as one of the top-performing privacy coins in this cycle, with its price still in a high-volatility range.
Zcash (ZEC) v pátek vyskočil o 17,49 % na 668,60 USD. Grayscale zároveň podal čtvrtý dodatek registračního prohlášení pro Zcash Trust a chce jej přesunout z OTCQX na NYSE Arca.
Zcash [ZEC] surged 17.49% to $668.60 to become one of the top gainers of the day on Friday during the wider crypto rally.
The positive price move came days after Grayscale advanced its plans to list its Zcash Trust on NYSE Arca, and a separate engineering update also promises faster performance for Zcash wallets.
Grayscale filing reveals 200,000 ZEC proposal Grayscale filed its fourth amended registration statement for the Zcash Trust with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on August 18.
According to the filing, the company wants to move the trust from one market to another [the OTCQX market to NYSE Arca] under the existing ZCSH ticker, with the proposed structure allowing the trust to issue shares continuously.
It will also allow it to introduce a redemption program designed to keep the share price closer to the value of its ZEC holdings.
It also disclosed discussions with DCG that will see the unit contribute approximately 200,000 ZEC through an authorized participant and receive trust shares in return.
But the discussions are non-binding, and the filing says DCG could contribute more tokens, fewer tokens, or none.
Despite the discussion being non-binding, the amount proposed is a lot, because the trust held approximately 388,674 ZEC at the end of June.
Zcash price approaches $680 hurdle ZEC reached highs of $682.36 during Friday’s trading session before slipping as volume rose and traders pushed the coin through $560 and again above $600.
The immediate test is around $680, as it is a zone that has seen it retreat several times when it tried to advance in May, but a firm move beyond it could bring $700 into view.
A slowdown would make $600 the first major level the buying camp needs to defend.
Source: TradingView Apart from the market excitement, Zakura says it made a hashing process used by Zcash wallets and nodes more than 15x faster than its starting implementation.
With the Ironwood upgrade on Zcash, the immediate effect for users would be wallet synchronization and better performance when processing private transactions.
Final Summary ZEC gained 17.49% and approached resistance around $680. Grayscale’s proposed 200,000 ZEC arrangement remains non-binding.
Grayscale submitted its fourth amendment to convert its Zcash trust into an exchange-traded fund, while disclosing that a subsidiary of its parent company, Digital Currency Group, is considering acquiring roughly 200,000 ZEC through the trust.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the crypto asset manager proposes renaming the Grayscale Zcash Trust (ZCSH) and listing its shares on NYSE Arca under the ticker "ZCSH."
The filing also disclosed that DCG International Investments Ltd. is in discussions to acquire approximately 200,000 ZEC tokens (ZEC), which would be about $110 million worth of ZEC at current prices.
"However, because these discussions are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the Potential Investor could determine to purchase more, fewer or no Shares," according to the filing.
Grayscale's latest SEC filing also details the June Orchard vulnerability and subsequent Ironwood upgrade, which retired the affected shielded pool and introduced safeguards against counterfeit ZEC.
This is just the latest altcoin trust Grayscale wants to bring to market, following its staked Avalanche fund and Hyperliquid ETF. Grayscale also recently filed for a spot fund tracking Worldcoin.
Since peaking above $23 million in November 2025, trading volumes for ZCSH in its current form as a private investment product have declined considerably this year. ZCSH has not exceeded $5 million in volume since June, according to The Block's data dashboard.
Zcash (ZEC) ETF Volumes. Source: The Block ZEC is trading nearly 10% higher over the past 24 hours, near the $555 level, according to The Block's price data. The token has a market cap near $9.4 billion.
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Cypherpunk Technologies spustila největší Zcash těžební farmu na světě po transakci za 33,33 milionu USD s Winklevoss Capital. Nasazený výkon 4,2 GSol/s tvoří zhruba 18 % sítě Zcash.
Equity-based transaction with Winklevoss Capital activates 4.2 GSol/s of live, U.S.-based hashrate; approximately 18% of the Zcash network; Industry veteran Kevin Zhang joins as Head of Mining
, /PRNewswire/ -- Cypherpunk Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: CYPH) ("Cypherpunk") today announced the launch of Cypherpunk Mining, which is now the largest Zcash mining fleet in the world, through a $33.33 million equity-based transaction with Winklevoss Capital. The fleet is online today, with approximately 4.2 GSol/s of Equihash hashrate deployed across the United States, which currently represents approximately 18% of the total Zcash network.
"Up until now, investors have had limited options for Zcash mining exposure. With the acquisition of this mining fleet, Cypherpunk changes that," said Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
With the launch, Cypherpunk now offers public market investors exposure to both Zcash mining and treasury upside and continues Cypherpunk's evolution into a diversified privacy technology company.
"Following the expansion of our ZEC treasury and investment in ZODL, Zcash mining is the next piece of the constellation of privacy technologies we're assembling," said Will McEvoy, Chief Investment Officer of Cypherpunk. "The Zcash flow from Cypherpunk Mining provides financial and operational flexibility to fund future growth, the acquisition of additional ZEC, and new privacy-preserving technology investments."
Through this transaction with Winklevoss Capital, Cypherpunk Mining immediately becomes the Zcash network's largest active fleet, currently deployed across U.S.-based facilities with industry-leading uptimes and hosting rates, accessing an addressable market valued at over $250 million per year at current ZEC prices.
Strengthening Cypherpunk's Treasury and the Zcash Network
Cypherpunk Mining now stands alongside Cypherpunk's ZEC treasury and its privacy investment strategy anchored by ZODL, the most widely used Zcash wallet. As approximately 43,800 ZEC are awarded to miners each month, mining meaningfully accelerates the company's path to its target of holding 5% of ZEC supply, at production costs that are significantly lower than spot price.
As the largest corporate holder of ZEC, currently with 323,394.38 ZEC representing approximately 1.92% of the circulating supply, Cypherpunk's incentives are aligned with the network's. The additional mining hashrate and decentralization strengthens Zcash network security, and a more secure Zcash makes Cypherpunk's treasury more valuable. Cypherpunk intends to serve as a bridge between Zcash miners, developers, and the broader ecosystem.
Kevin Zhang Joins as Head of Mining
Kevin Zhang joins Cypherpunk as Head of Mining, bringing more than a decade of experience at the front lines of Bitcoin and Zcash. Zhang began mining Bitcoin in 2014 and Zcash in 2016, built several of the largest Bitcoin mining facilities in North America, and in 2019 led the first power plant conversion to Bitcoin mining on the continent. At Foundry, he built the largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world and deployed one of the largest crypto mining operations.
"Approximately 1,440 ZEC is awarded to miners each day, making Zcash mining highly profitable. Even if the Zcash network hashrate increases significantly, Zcash mining still out-earns AI colocation and Bitcoin mining at today's ZEC prices," said Kevin Zhang, Head of Mining at Cypherpunk. "The opportunity in Zcash mining shows a striking similarity to Bitcoin mining in 2016 and provides exciting growth potential for Cypherpunk."
Description of the Transaction
Cypherpunk and Cypherpunk Mining LLC ("Cypherpunk Mining") entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Moria Mining LLC and Winklevoss Treasury Investments, LLC pursuant to which Cypherpunk Mining acquired the latest generation Z15 Pro machines with an aggregate hashpower of approximately 4.2 GSol/s along with their related hosting agreements. The aggregate purchase price of $33.33 million was paid for by the issuance of a pre-funded warrant to Winklevoss Treasury Investments, LLC to purchase 43,290,042 shares of common stock of Cypherpunk at an exercise price of $0.001 per share, reflecting a Cypherpunk common stock purchase price of $0.77 per share.
About Cypherpunk
Cypherpunk Technologies is a privacy technology company. The Company's mission is to advance technologies that guarantee privacy for humans on the internet. Cypherpunk pursues this mission through two primary strategies: accumulating Zcash (ZEC); and investing in, acquiring, and building technologies that push the frontier of privacy forward. Additionally, through its subsidiary Leap Therapeutics, the Company is developing novel therapies for patients with cancer, continuing the development of sirexatamab and FL-501. For more information about the Company, visit our websites at http://www.cypherpunk.com and http://www.leaptx.com or view our public filings with the SEC that are available via EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "goal," "project," and other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements address various matters including statements relating to the Company's ZEC mining operations, the hashpower represented by the acquired Z15 Pro machines, the potential Zcash flow or profitability of the Company's mining operations, the comparative economics or profitability of Zcash mining relative to other digital infrastructure or mining activities, the future hashrate of the Zcash Network, the value of the Company's ZEC holdings, the Company's target percentage ownership of the ZEC supply, the expected future market, price, and liquidity of ZEC, the Company's expected use of Zcash flow or other capital generated by its mining operations, the potential value of the Company's investment in Zcash Open Development Labs ("ZODL"), the macro and political conditions surrounding Zcash or digital assets, the Company's plan for value creation and strategic advantages, market size and growth opportunities, regulatory conditions, competitive position and the interest of other corporations in similar business strategies, technological and market trends, and future financial condition and performance. Risks and uncertainties of the Company's strategy include, among others: (a) risks relating to the Company's operations and business, including the performance of the Company's Zcash mining machines and highly volatile nature of the price of ZEC; (b) the risk that material changes in the price of ZEC, such as decreases in price, will result in significant changes to the Company's financial statements, such as unrealized losses on fair value of ZEC holdings, and reduced net income or increased net loss; (c) the risk that material changes in the hashrate of the Zcash Network, such as increases in hashrate, will result in significant changes to the Company's financial statements, such as reduced revenue, reduced gross margins, and reduced net income or increased net loss; (d) the risk that the price of the Company's common stock may be highly correlated to the price of ZEC; (e) the risk that the Company will fail to realize the anticipated benefits of the ZEC mining operation or digital asset treasury strategy; (f) risks related to the custody of our ZEC and our reliance on Gemini Space Station and its affiliates for trading and custody services; (g) changes in business, market, financial, political and regulatory conditions; (h) risks related to increased competition in the industries in which the Company does and will operate; (i) risks relating to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding digital assets generally; (j) risks relating to the treatment of crypto assets for U.S. and foreign tax purposes; (k) risks related to the Company's dependence on third-party hosting facilities and service providers for its mining operations; and (l) the Company's ability to comply with the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market.
New risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties. No representations or warranties (expressed or implied) are made about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. The Company may not actually achieve the forecasts disclosed in such forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of material risks and uncertainties including but not limited to those set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, or as may be included in other reports or information we file with the SEC, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in its subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made. Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives, undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
CONTACT:
Douglas E. Onsi
President & Chief Executive Officer
Cypherpunk Technologies Inc.
617-714-0360
For Investors:
Matthew DeYoung
Investor Relations
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
[email protected]
For Media:
Jacqueline Ortiz Ramsay
It Factor Strategies
954-294-3249
[email protected]
Zcash (ZEC) vzrostl za posledních 24 hodin o 2,8 % na zhruba 509 USD a Ironwood shielded pool už přesáhl 260 milionů USD. Příliv do Ironwoodu souvisí s reakcí na kritickou zranitelnost v Orchard poolu.
Zcash (ZEC) posted a 2.8% gain over the last 24 hours, trading near $509 on August 18 and building on a 3.4% increase for the week. This uptrend coincides with a sharp acceleration in user migration to Ironwood, the network’s new shielded pool.
Ironwood migration and vulnerability response bolster ZECRecent data from CoinGecko showed ZEC advancing from approximately $495 earlier in the day, briefly touching $520 before consolidating above $500. Zcash holders moved around $260 million in ZEC into Ironwood, which has now overtaken the previous Sapling pool in total value.
Ironwood went live on July 28 at block height 3,428,143 following the discovery of a critical vulnerability in the protocol’s Orchard shielded pool. Security researcher Taylor Hornby identified the flaw on May 29, prompting the Zcash Open Development Lab to coordinate a patch by June 2.
The vulnerability could have made it possible for a malicious actor to mint unauthorized ZEC tokens within the Orchard pool undetected. While Shielded Labs assessed the risk of exploitation as low, the inherent privacy of the pool prevented users from independently verifying that counterfeit tokens had never been issued.
Ironwood was developed to close this loophole by blocking new deposits and internal transfers in the Orchard pool. Funds can now only exit through Zcash’s established turnstile system, which caps withdrawals at the amount legitimately deposited, allowing users to independently verify ZEC’s circulating supply.
The Ironwood pool features an updated Orchard circuit, and this upgrade included further security measures such as independent audits, formal verification, and the introduction of quantum-recoverable notes under ZIP 2005.
After the announcement of the Orchard bug, ZEC experienced a sharp price drop of more than 50%. When Ironwood launched in late July, ZEC traded around $475, but recent recovery has pushed its price back above $500.
ZEC price analysisOn the daily ZEC/USDT chart, ZEC traded close to $509, with the Volume Profile indicating heavy historical trading activity in the $400 to $420 range. This area has served as a significant support level during recent swings. In late June, ZEC rebounded from about $400, surging to a July high near $570, and subsequent pullbacks have consistently held above this key zone.
The daily Supertrend indicator currently positions support at $447, meaning ZEC maintains its bullish daily structure so long as the price remains above this level. To extend gains, ZEC must clear resistance in the $516 to $520 range, after which the July resistance band from $560 to $580 may come into play.
Failure to defend the $500 threshold could see ZEC return to test $480, with further downside risk extending to the $400 to $420 high-volume area below the daily Supertrend support.
Short-term momentum mixedOn the 4-hour chart, ZEC changed hands around $509, with session VWAP at $511.59 and the upper band near $513.11. The token remains just below the VWAP, indicating buyers have not yet reclaimed control above the average session price. Short-term momentum has begun to soften following the latest upswing.
Stochastic RSI on the 4-hour timeframe showed the %K line near 77.85 and the %D line close to 87.50. The %K has slipped below the %D after both reached overbought territory, signaling a possible pullback.
ZEC would need to decisively reclaim the $511 to $513 VWAP area and break through $520 for another upward push. Sustaining these gains could target $540 and revisit resistance between $560 and $580, echoing the July advance. However, dropping below $500 would undermine the immediate bullish scenario and raise the prospects of declines toward $480 and the prominent support region below.
In a fast-moving market, where a single Fed decision or a large altcoin listing can rapidly shift sentiment, traders are seeking ways to streamline their workflow. Smart investors increasingly turn to privacy-focused tools like CryptoAppsy to consolidate charts, news, and portfolio trackers, offering real-time analytics, price alerts, and macro data—all without requiring an account.
The latest gains partly reverse last week’s retreat from above $500, positioning ZEC for another test of range resistance while market participants monitor key technical levels and the sustained impact of Ironwood’s security enhancements.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Zcash Labs spustila jako nezávislá organizace financující integrace, infrastrukturu a retroaktivní granty pro ekosystém Zcash. Prvním příjemcem grantu je zcashtocash, služba propojující $ZEC se šesti platebními aplikacemi jako Venmo, Cash App a Zelle.
A New Kind of Organization for the Zcash EcosystemZcash Labs (@ZcashLabs) has launched as an independent organization with three stated priorities: technical integration work for businesses and institutions, infrastructure support including a Shielded Vote Validator, lightwalletd and full-node instances, and planned RPC services, and a retroactive grants program for ecosystem projects.
On the grants side, Zcash Labs plans to cover project costs upfront and then seek reimbursement from ZEC coinholders, with a 20% markup applied per retroactive grants period rather than per individual request. The decision on whether to approve each reimbursement ultimately rests with coinholders. Zcash Labs has also been clear about its independence, stating it has no affiliation with the Zcash Foundation, a separate nonprofit that has historically supported Zcash development and research.
First Grantee Connects $ZEC to Everyday Payment AppsThe organization's first launched grantee is zcashtocash (@zcashtocash), a service that facilitates peer-to-peer $ZEC settlement linked to six widely used payment applications, including Venmo, Cash App, and Zelle. According to Zcash Labs, the service uses Peer for matched P2P conversions, with enclaves releasing ZEC only after the corresponding fiat payment has been verified.
The launch of Zcash Labs adds another independent entity to a Zcash ecosystem that has seen significant organizational activity in 2026. Earlier this year, the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) was formed by the former engineering and product team of the Electric Coin Company following a governance dispute. ZODL raised over $25 million in seed funding from backers including Paradigm, a16z crypto, and Coinbase Ventures to continue core protocol development.
Sources:
Zcash Labs: Announcing Zcash Labs
CoinDesk: Zcash Open Development Lab raises $25 million in seed funding
Zcash se drží nad 500 USD, zatímco shielded supply se přesouvá z Orchard do Ironwood poolu. Orchard za 24 hodin klesl téměř o 17 % na 1,49 milionu ZEC, Ironwood vzrostl o 15 % na 2,30 milionu ZEC.
Zcash (ZEC) hovers above $500 on Monday, extending a sideways move above its 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $490. The privacy coin experiences a shift in shielded supply to the Ironwood pool, from the old Orchard pool amid easing retail demand in Zcash futures. The technical outlook for ZEC is mixed, as the price hovers above the 50-day and 100-day EMAs at $490 and $469, respectively, yet lacks bullish momentum.
Why is Zcash's shielded supply moving to Ironwood Pool?Zcash developers discovered a four-year-old vulnerability in late May that could allow the minting of counterfeit coins, raising security concerns among privacy coin users. ZEC provides a store of value for users prioritizing financial privacy through its shielded transaction features, which conceal transaction data. However, the counterfeit vulnerability could have destroyed its store of value by minting a fake supply of ZEC tokens.
To patch the issue, Zcash developers deployed an emergency hard fork on June 3, followed by the major Ironwood network upgrade in late July 2026.
Zkp.baby data shows the migration from Orchard to the Ironwood pool in progress. Orchard pool is down nearly 17% over the last 24 hours to 1.49 million ZEC, while the Ironwood pool is up 15% to 2.30 million ZEC in the same time period. In addition, the total shielded supply at 4.36 million ZEC is holding steady after a V-shaped rebound from the August 1 low of 3.65 million ZEC, indicating a mild recovery in the privacy coin adoption.
Zcash Shielded Supply. Source: Zkp.babyIs Zcash losing speculative demand?Retail demand for the privacy coin is easing in the near term as the broader crypto market remains risk-averse. CoinGlass data shows the ZEC futures Open Interest (OI) is down nearly 2% over the last 24 hours to $874.29 million, indicating a contraction in positional buildup. At the same time, the funding rate at 0.0075%, down from 0.0098% the previous day, maintains a bullish bias while reaffirming easing demand for long positions.
Zcash derivatives data. Source: CoinGlassTechnical outlook: Could Zcash extend its rally above $550?Zcash holds above $500 on Monday, maintaining a constructive near-term bias. The privacy coin holds above the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day EMAs at $490, $469, and $414, respectively, reinforcing an underlying uptrend structure.
Momentum is mildly positive, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovering at 53 just above the midline and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) line moving flat above its signal line, hinting that buyers are struggling to assert dominance.
On the topside, bulls face their first resistance at the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level, measured over the recent upswing from the $368 low to the $589 high, at $532. The overhead resistance trendline near $548 reinforces the initial cluster, while a sustained break above these hurdles would open the way to the swing high zone around $589.
ZEC/USDT daily price chart.On the downside, initial support emerges at the 50-day and 100-day EMAs around $490 and $469, followed by the 50% retracement at $465.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Zcash Foundation ve 2. čtvrtletí zvýšila čistá likvidní aktiva na přibližně 48,7 milionu USD z 36,69 milionu USD v 1. čtvrtletí. Zároveň vydala sedm aktualizací Zebra a opravila řadu bezpečnostních chyb.
Treasury Grows to $48.7 MillionThe Zcash Foundation's Q2 2026 report shows net liquid assets of approximately $48.7 million, a meaningful step up from the $36.69 million in liquid assets the Foundation reported at the end of Q1 2026. The Q2 figure includes 78,986 $ZEC valued at roughly $31.5 million, with the remainder held in cash, stablecoins, and other digital assets.
Monthly operating expenses averaged around $321,000 during the quarter, the bulk of it directed toward protocol development. That compares with Q1 operating expenses that averaged $272,539 per month, suggesting a modest uptick in spending as the engineering workload grew.
Seven Zebra Releases and a Tighter Security PostureThe engineering team shipped seven Zebra node releases across the quarter. Zebra is an independent Zcash node written in Rust that strengthens network resilience by validating transactions and maintaining blockchain state in a modular and decentralized manner. The releases addressed a mempool bypass vulnerability and several RPC denial-of-service bugs. One update also fixed memory allocation issues during block deserialization and additional RPC vulnerabilities.
A long-standing sync stall that had affected node operators was also resolved, cutting synchronization time down to 14 hours. The fix is a practical improvement for anyone running or setting up a Zebra instance.
On the cryptography side, the Foundation released FROST v3.0.0 during the quarter. FROST, which stands for Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold Signatures, enables shielded transactions to be authorized by multiple participants without compromising unlinkability. Version 3.0.0 added automatic key zeroization, which ensures that signing key material is cleared from memory after use, a meaningful upgrade for operational security. Earlier work on FROST v3.0.0 had also introduced cheater detection enabled by default and stronger zeroization.
Taken together, the Q2 report paints a picture of a foundation in a stable financial position and actively hardening the protocol ahead of the planned NU7 network upgrade.
Sources:
Zcash Foundation Q2 2026 Report, Zcash Community Forum
Zcash Foundation Ends Q1 with $36.69M Treasury, The Crypto Times
Zcash Foundation Patches Critical Zebra Flaws, Bitcoin.com News
Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in 2016, is preparing for a pivotal governance event as coinholders prepare to vote on the proposed scope of the upcoming NU7 network upgrade. The voting period will begin on August 25 and is expected to run for approximately 18 days, with several key protocol changes under consideration.
New governance mechanism and voting processThis vote introduces a new governance framework for Zcash. Valar Group and Project Tachyon are coordinating the process using a recently developed Tokenholder Voting Chain. This infrastructure replaces Zcash’s older governance mechanisms and utilizes a distributed election authority composed of at least 10 validators. Tally results can only be accessed after two-thirds of the validator set grants approval, increasing security and collective oversight.
A critical condition for legitimacy has been set: the voting process requires the participation of at least 1,000,000 ZEC. If this quorum is not met, the results will not be recognized as valid, marking a significant engagement threshold for the Zcash community.
To join the vote, users must hold spendable shielded ZEC in Ironwood at the snapshot, scheduled for August 24 at 19:00 UTC. After the snapshot is taken, voters are free to move their funds, and the voting window will remain open until September 12.
Mini dictionary: Ironwood, the Zcash reference wallet developed to support shielded transactions, allowing users to store and transact using ZEC with privacy features enabled.
Key issues on the ballotCoinholders will weigh in on several issues, ranging from technical and schedule matters to fundamental economic parameters. Among the most critical proposals, participants will decide whether to transition Zcash’s current halving schedule to a smoother issuance model through the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM). The ballot will also include options on when to activate transaction fee reissuance, plans to deprecate the legacy Sprout transaction format, and whether to reduce block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. Additionally, voters will set guidance on how quickly the NU7 upgrade should be released if certain features miss the initial deadline.
Mini dictionary: Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM), a proposed protocol change to Zcash’s issuance model that replaces sharp halvings with a gradual, predictable reduction in mining rewards, aimed at promoting long-term security and development funding.
Participation threshold and its significanceThe requirement for at least 1 million ZEC to participate represents a significant percentage of Zcash’s circulating supply. Given that Zcash’s total circulating supply is much lower than that of Bitcoin, achieving this quorum would demonstrate robust engagement from the community and could reinforce the legitimacy of future technical changes decided through on-chain governance.
ZEC technical performance and market conditionsZEC’s technical indicators have recently improved. The coin is currently trading above its 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day moving averages, while the 200-day moving average continues to trend upward beneath the current price. The token has climbed above the key $500 psychological level and is consolidating around nearby support zones. With the relative strength index (RSI) recovering toward 54, market momentum appears neutral, and conditions do not indicate significant overbought pressure.
IndicatorCurrent LevelPriceAbove $50020-day MABelow current price50-day MABelow current price100-day MABelow current price200-day MATrending up, below current priceRSIAround 54Should ZEC maintain its position above its cluster of shorter-term moving averages, analysts may anticipate renewed attempts to reach previous highs set earlier this summer.
Zcash coinholders will vote on proposals such as a new issuance schedule, transaction fee policy, and shorter block times, while a 1 million ZEC participation quorum aims to ensure strong governance legitimacy for the decisions made in the forthcoming NU7 upgrade.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Fortitude koupila nové datové centrum o výkonu 12,5 MW v Prosseru v Nebrasce a její vlastní energetické portfolio tak přesáhlo 60 MW. Tím posiluje těžbu Zcash (ZEC) a Silbert míří na první veřejně obchodovanou institucionální platformu pro těžbu Zcash.
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Digital Currency Group (DCG) CEO Barry Silbert, who remains one of the crypto industry's biggest entrepreneurs, has shared a major infrastructure milestone within his portfolio as DCG-controlled mining platform Fortitude has officially confirmed the acquisition of a new 12.5 MW data center in Prosser, Nebraska.
The deal, valued at approximately $4.7 million, pushed Fortitude's total owned power portfolio beyond 60 MW. The new milestone expands DCG's industrial foundation for mining Zcash (ZEC). The holding company's chief openly calls financial privacy "a fundamental right" and his next "large asymmetric bet" in the crypto industry.
Why is Fortitude buying up Nebraska for ZEC?For most market participants, the focus on Zcash looks unconventional, but for Fortitude, it is pure mathematics. The Prosser site has become the company's third facility in Nebraska. Deploying infrastructure within a single regional cluster gives the miner several operational advantages:
Lower electricity costs. Concentrating its facilities in Nebraska gives Fortitude an electricity rate of around $0.045 per kWh.Lower Zcash production costs. Thanks to cheap energy, the direct cost of mining one ZEC falls by 40% to $40 per coin.Control over the network's hash rate. Taking into account its $31.5 million contract with Bitmain to purchase 9,000 Antminer Z15 Pro miners, the company's share of Zcash mining will exceed 28%.Fortitude's infrastructure push continues Silbert's thesis that Bitcoin has lost its anonymity because of analytics services such as Chainalysis.
Explaining his stance on assets with the potential for exponential growth, the creator of the GBTC Bitcoin trust stated: "Bitcoin is not going to go up 500x unless the US dollar completely collapses. I think Zcash or Bittensor can achieve that type of return. Our portfolio is weighted accordingly."
According to his estimates, up to 10% of Bitcoin liquidity, which is now about $128 billion, will flow into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
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Alongside the installation of the equipment, Fortitude is finalizing its merger with publicly traded medical technology company HeartSciences (HSCS). It is an all-stock transaction, and the preliminary proxy statement is already under review by the SEC.
Silbert's plan is pragmatic: close the merger in the second half of 2026, change the ticker to TUDE, and list the first publicly traded institutional Zcash mining platform in history on Nasdaq.
Spoluzakladatel Zcash Zooko Wilcox uvedl, že aktuální zásoba ZEC činí přesně 16 848 458 a je plně ověřitelná na lokálním počítači. Tím odmítl obavy z neodhalené inflace.
Zcash co-founder Zooko Wilcox has pushed back against concerns over undisclosed $ZEC inflation, stating that the current supply stands at exactly 16,848,458 ZEC and is fully verifiable by anyone who wants to check it. He added that independent confirmation does not require months or years of waiting and can be done on a local computer.
The Background: Orchard Vulnerability Shook ConfidenceThe remarks come after a turbulent stretch for Zcash. The vulnerability was discovered on May 29, 2026, by security researcher Taylor Hornby, contracted by Shielded Labs, using an AI-assisted auditing framework with Anthropic's Opus 4.8 model. The issue resided in the elliptic-curve components of the Halo 2 proving system used for Orchard transactions and could theoretically have permitted the undetectable creation of counterfeit notes inside the private pool. Because Orchard transactions conceal amounts and participants, cryptographic methods alone could not definitively confirm whether the flaw had been exploited prior to remediation.
According to the Zcash Foundation, there is no evidence of exploitation or unauthorized value creation. ZEC experienced an intraday drop of roughly 37%, then recovered much of the loss, per market reports.
Ironwood: Building Toward Verifiable SupplyThe core concern was not whether the vulnerability had been fixed, but that the network could not prove the flaw was never exploited in the four years it existed, casting doubt on supply credibility.
Zcash has activated its Ironwood (NU6.3) upgrade, sealing the Orchard shielded pool that held about 3.66 million ZEC and opening a new private pool that starts with zero coins. Ironwood's main supply safeguard is a turnstile between Orchard and the new pool. After activation, Orchard stopped accepting new outputs and internal transactions. Funds can move out, but the accounting rule prevents more ZEC from leaving Orchard than the amount that legitimately entered it.
A machine-checked mathematical proof consisting of more than 2,700 theorems confirms Ironwood cannot create undetectable counterfeit ZEC under its design assumptions. Project Tachyon is running formal verification on the new Ironwood circuits to produce machine-checked proofs in addition to manual review. If completed at scale, it would be the first formal proof of this kind for a deployed shielded pool.
Wilcox's latest comments reinforce the same message: the current $ZEC supply is knowable, auditable, and does not require extraordinary effort or time to confirm.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Zcash Ironwood Goes Live
Cryptonomist: Zcash Ironwood Upgrade Secures Network with Verified Shielded Pool
Crowdfund Insider: Zcash Launches Ironwood Upgrade Following Orchard Security Vulnerability
Fortitude Mining koupila od společnosti Bitmain 9 000 kusů Antminer Z15 Pro za 31,5 milionu USD, aby rozšířila těžbu Zcash. Firma už těží tempem 157 000 ZEC ročně.
Fortitude Mining just dropped $31.5 million on Zcash mining hardware. The Digital Currency Group subsidiary signed an agreement with Bitmain to purchase 9,000 Antminer Z15 Pro units at $3,499 per machine, a deal that positions the company as one of the most aggressively expanding miners in the privacy coin space.
Zcash has staged a dramatic comeback, with trailing twelve-month returns exceeding 1,000% as of mid-June 2026. Fortitude is betting that run has legs.
The hardware and the math The Antminer Z15 Pro is Bitmain’s latest Equihash miner, offering a hashrate of 840 KSol/s with energy efficiency rated at 3.31 J/KSol. When Bitmain launched the unit in May 2026, the sticker price was $4,999. Fortitude negotiated each unit down to $3,499, saving roughly $1,500 per machine. Across 9,000 units, that’s a $13.5 million discount from list price.
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As of May 31, 2026, Fortitude was already mining at an annualized rate of 157,000 ZEC, which works out to about 366 ZEC per day. With ZEC trading between $460 and $500 in June 2026, that daily output translates to roughly $168K to $183K in revenue per day before costs.
Cutting costs in Nebraska Fortitude energized a new self-built 12 MW facility in Grand Island, Nebraska on July 28, 2026, just two days before announcing the Bitmain deal. The Nebraska site is projected to reduce Fortitude’s direct cash mining costs by approximately 43%, dropping from around $70 per ZEC to roughly $40 per ZEC.
The Nasdaq play Fortitude is set to merge with HeartSciences, a Nasdaq-listed medical device company trading under the ticker HSCS. After the merger completes, Fortitude plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker TUDE in the second half of 2026.
For a company that only launched in January 2025, the trajectory has been remarkably steep. In roughly 18 months, Fortitude went from zero to an annualized production rate of 157,000 ZEC, built its own mining facilities, and now sits on the doorstep of a public listing.
What this means for investors Investors watching the TUDE listing should pay close attention to three metrics once the company goes public: hashrate as a percentage of total Zcash network hashrate, all-in sustaining cost per ZEC mined, and the company’s ZEC treasury strategy. Whether Fortitude holds mined coins or sells them immediately will tell you a lot about management’s conviction in ZEC’s long-term trajectory.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
29 July 2026 | 12:12 Zcash fell through the support cluster at $470 and $472 little after activating Ironwood, the network's most consequential upgrade in years, trading near $461 at the time of writing
Key Takeaways Ironwood closes a supply-verification gap. Spot and futures flows remain negative. The nearest support sits at $450. Losing $450 would expose $419. The Flaw Ironwood Was Built to Close Developers found a soundness flaw in the zero-knowledge circuit behind Orchard, Zcash’s shielded pool. In theory it allowed counterfeit ZEC to be created without detection. The patch shipped in June, and no evidence of exploitation surfaced.
Proving that turned out to be the harder problem. Orchard’s privacy guarantees, the reason the pool exists, also made its recorded supply impossible for users to audit independently. A shielded pool that nobody can inspect cannot demonstrate that nobody exploited it.
Ironwood answers that by introducing a new shielded pool and version 6 transactions while closing Orchard to new deposits. Funds leaving the old pool pass through a turnstile that caps outflows at the total that previously went in. As balances migrate, the supply becomes verifiable.
This is real engineering work on a real problem. It creates no reason for anyone to buy the token today.
The Market Had Already Moved On ZEC climbed towards $560 earlier in July, then began printing lower highs and lower lows. By activation day on July 28 the token was trading inside a falling channel and approaching the $470 cluster from above.
Daily Zcash/USD technical chart with Fibonacci retracement levels and indicators. That sequence could be the whole explanation. Ironwood was announced, documented and discussed for weeks, giving anyone who wanted exposure ample time to take it. Traders holding into the event had their catalyst; those arriving afterwards found a chart that had already turned.
Price action cannot identify individual sellers or their motives. What it establishes is that a successful upgrade landed without generating enough demand to interrupt a decline already underway.
Flow Data Points the Same Way Coinglass recorded net negative spot flows across every window on its dashboard. The 12-hour balance showed $10.2 million in and $12.81 million out, for a net of minus $2.6 million. Eight hours ran to minus $1.65 million, four hours to minus $935,000, and the most recent hour to minus $329,000 on $1.18 million in against $1.5 million out.
Futures told a similar story at the longer horizons: $148.5 million in against $155.6 million out over 12 hours, a net of minus $7.1 million, with eight hours at minus $2.98 million. The shorter windows flipped positive, adding $418,000 over four hours and $213,000 over one.
Those late positive readings show derivatives traders returning around current prices. Their direction is unknowable from flow balances alone, and their size leaves the 12-hour imbalance untouched.
One caveat applies throughout. These are Coinglass flow balances, and the dashboard does not define whether each movement represents an exchange transfer, a completed trade or another accounting category. They indicate direction, not executed buying and selling.
Where the Levels Sit Now The 0.382 Fibonacci retracement near $470 and the 50-day moving average at $472 sat close enough together to function as a single support zone. ZEC now trades beneath both, which converts the area into resistance: traders who bought there may sell a rebound to exit nearer break-even, while others treat it as a fresh entry for shorts.
Today’s high of $470 stopped just next to the Fibonacci level. A daily close above $472 would reclaim both, and the 100-day average at $484 sits immediately beyond, making three technical hurdles inside $14.
Below, $450 is the first support, an area that absorbed trading recently and sits near the falling channel’s lower boundary. A close beneath it opens the 0.236 retracement around $420, which shaped price through the May and June swings.
Verified Scarcity Still Needs a Buyer Ironwood arrived weeks after more than 80% of all ZEC entered circulation. As covered in our analysis of Zcash’s 80% supply milestone, future issuance now represents a shrinking share of maximum supply, which steadily reduces dilution from mining.
The two developments reinforce each other. Less new issuance tightens the supply picture, and Ironwood lets the market confirm that migration from Orchard adds nothing beyond what the turnstile permits.
Scarcity works on the supply side of the equation. The demand side is what the flow data measures, and it has yet to respond. Zcash spent this month fixing what it could control and discovering that the market was looking elsewhere.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Network upgrades, technical indicators and flow data do not guarantee future price performance. Methodology: The analysis uses the ZEC/USD daily chart dated July 29, 2026, Fibonacci retracements, moving averages, RSI and Coinglass Spot Flows and Futures Flows dashboards. Because the dashboards do not define the accounting methodology behind each flow category, the figures are presented as directional net-flow balances rather than direct evidence of buying, selling or exchange inventory changes. Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
About $80 million ZEC crosses into Zcash's new 'Ironwood' pool in the first day (xing419/Pixabay)Summary
About 176,000 ZEC, or roughly $81 million, has moved into Zcash’s new Ironwood shielded pool in the first day after the upgrade, representing about 5 percent of the Orchard pool’s balance at activation.Orchard, which can no longer accept deposits, is steadily shrinking as coins exit through a turnstile mechanism that limits total withdrawals to the amount verifiably deposited.Migration to Ironwood is voluntary, leaving most of Zcash’s shielded supply temporarily stranded in a now-closed Orchard pool while holders, wallets and exchanges move funds at their own pace.About 176,000 ZEC, worth roughly $81 million, had migrated into Zcash’s new Ironwood shielded pool by Wednesday, a day after the upgrade activated and sealed the pool where a counterfeiting flaw had gone undetected for four years.
That is roughly 5% of the 3.66 million ZEC held in Orchard at activation. Orchard's balance has since fallen to about 3.51 million, with around 46,000 ZEC crossing over in the past 24 hours, according to the Ironwood migration tracker.
Zcash holds funds in separate compartments called pools, each one a generation of the network's privacy technology. The transparent pool works like bitcoin, with every balance and transaction visible on the chain, and holds about 12.5 million ZEC.
The shielded pools hide amounts and participants. Sapling, introduced in 2018, holds about 582,000 ZEC, and Orchard, which arrived in 2022 and was the newest until this week, held about 3.5 million. Each time the network upgrades its privacy cryptography, it opens a new pool rather than rebuilding the old one, leaving holders to move their coins across themselves.
Orchard can no longer take deposits. Every coin still inside has to leave through the turnstile, the accounting rule that caps total withdrawals at the amount verifiably deposited, so the pool's balance can now only fall.
Migration is voluntary, so the timeline depends on how quickly holders, wallets, and exchanges move funds. For now, the bulk of Zcash's private supply sits in a pool that has been closed to new money since Tuesday.
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Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer
Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
4 hours ago
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
Why it matters:
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
Zcash uvedl, že formální verifikace Ironwood s více než 2 700 důkazy vylučuje neodhalitelné chyby v padělání za splnění kryptografických předpokladů. Důkaz chrání integritu zůstatků nového shielded poolu.
Zcash says Ironwood proof rules out undetectable counterfeiting bugsZcash researchers published more than 2,700 machine-checked theorems designed to rule out undetectable counterfeiting bugs in Ironwood.
Zcash researchers have completed formal verification of Ironwood, publishing a machine-checked proof that the network’s new shielded pool does not contain undetectable counterfeiting bugs under its stated cryptographic assumptions.
On Tuesday, Project Tachyon said that the proof, written in the Lean programming language, comprises over 2,700 theorems and took three teams of researchers and cryptographers over a month to complete. The work establishes a security property known as balance integrity, designed to ensure the shielded pool cannot pay out more value than has publicly entered it.
The researchers said the proof covers the components needed for that property, including Ironwood’s zero-knowledge proof system, circuit rules and ledger-level accounting. It does not cover Ironwood’s separate privacy guarantees.
Ironwood was introduced through Zcash’s NU6.3 upgrade in response to a vulnerability discovered in its Orchard shielded pool that could theoretically have enabled undetectable ZEC counterfeiting. Zcash developers said they found no evidence that the flaw had been exploited. The new pool was designed to restore confidence in Zcash’s supply integrity.
Funds migrating from Orchard must pass through a public accounting checkpoint known as a turnstile, which is designed to prevent any hypothetical excess coins from entering Ironwood. As funds leave Orchard, the process may also provide increasing evidence about whether the old pool was exploited.
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
Zcash spustil upgrade Ironwood a uzavřel Orchard pool s asi 3,66 milionu ZEC po odhalení chyby v proof circuitu. Nový pool startuje s nulou mincí a výběry hlídá turnstile mechanismus.
Zcash has officially launched its Ironwood (NU6.3) upgrade, sealing off the Orchard shielded pool that previously held approximately 3.66 million ZEC, and inaugurating a new private pool that starts with zero coins.
Developers address critical bug and migration process beginsThe decision to retire the Orchard pool follows the discovery of a significant vulnerability in its proof circuit. Taylor Hornby, a researcher at Shielded Labs, identified the flaw on May 29, revealing that it could have permitted the creation of counterfeit ZEC tokens without leaving any trace on the blockchain. The vulnerability had been present since Orchard’s introduction in May 2022, raising concerns about the integrity of Zcash’s private pools.
Developers quickly implemented a patch for the bug within days. However, the four-year gap during which the flaw existed meant there was no way to verify whether counterfeit coins were ever produced, due to the very privacy protections shielded pools provide. The blockchain contains only cryptographic proofs of validity, not specifics about individual transactions.
To prevent any unverified ZEC from leaving Orchard, Ironwood now enforces a turnstile mechanism. This accounting safeguard ensures that withdrawals are capped at the amount verifiably deposited, effectively freezing any minted tokens that cannot be traced back to authentic inflows.
Zcash’s new turnstile mechanism ensures that the total ZEC withdrawn from Orchard cannot exceed the sum of deposits previously recorded, locking in any potential counterfeit coins that may have existed within the shielded pool.
Mini dictionary: Shielded pool (Zcash) – A private section of the Zcash blockchain where transaction amounts and participants are concealed through cryptographic proofs, making their on-chain activity anonymous.
Ironwood introduces enhanced safeguardsIronwood marks a significant upgrade for the Zcash protocol beyond just security. Each coin moved into the new pool leaves a record built to remain recoverable even if quantum computers eventually compromise current cryptography. This “quantum-resilient” design follows specifications set under ZIP 2005 and is available from block one of Ironwood.
Additionally, Ironwood’s proof circuit is undergoing formal verification. This mathematical approach ensures the software functions correctly in all potential scenarios, rather than only in those considered during manual tests, reducing the likelihood of similar vulnerabilities going undetected in the future.
The migration’s pace depends on how rapidly users choose to move their ZEC holdings from Orchard to the new pool, with roughly 1,500 ZEC already transferred as of Tuesday, according to on-chain trackers.
Shielded pools provide privacy on the Zcash network by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, a class of cryptographic technology allowing transaction details to remain hidden while still verifying authenticity.
Impact on Zcash supply and network monitoringWith the Ironwood activation at block 3,428,143, Orchard is now sealed. Owners must individually relocate their coins to participate in the new pool. Until user-driven migration is complete, the majority of Zcash’s private supply remains held in Orchard, with the turnstile mechanism blocking any increase to its balance.
Tracking the movement of ZEC between pools provides the community with ongoing assurance against the potential issue of counterfeit tokens. Funds crossing into or out of both pools are publicly visible, though their internal movement maintains privacy.
Old Pool (Orchard)New Pool (Ironwood)3.66 million ZEC at closure0 ZEC at launch; 1,500 ZEC migrated on first dayVulnerability existed since May 2022Quantum-resilient and formally verifiedNo formal verificationFormal verification in processNo turnstile; potential for unverified withdrawalsTurnstile mechanism limits withdrawals to verified depositsZEC traded close to $463 before the upgrade, showing an 8% drop in one day and a 15% decrease across the week, though it remains significantly higher than a year ago. The key figure to monitor remains the volume of ZEC holders moving from Orchard to Ironwood, a process entirely controlled by individual owners.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Fortitude spustila 12MW těžební areál v Nebrasce a zvýšila vlastní energetické portfolio na více než 60 MW. Firma čeká, že sníží přímé hotovostní náklady těžby Zcash zhruba ze 70 na 40 USD za kus.
In brief Fortitude brought a 12-megawatt mining facility in Grand Island, Nebraska, online, increasing its owned power portfolio to more than 60 MW. The company expects the site to reduce its direct cash cost of mining Zcash through lower electricity costs and newer mining equipment. The announcement follows Fortitude's planned merger with HeartSciences, which would take the company public. Zcash mining company Fortitude has brought a 12-megawatt facility in Grand Island, Nebraska, online, completing its first greenfield data center and expanding its owned power portfolio to more than 60 megawatts across seven sites.
Announced Tuesday, the Digital Currency Group-owned company said its first greenfield facility has completed construction and electrical testing and is ready for commercial operations. The milestone comes ahead of Fortitude's planned public listing through its previously announced business combination with HeartSciences (Nasdaq: HSCS), a publicly traded medical technology company.
"Our power strategy is owned-and-operated, and that discipline is what underpins our vertically integrated Zcash strategy and our venture mining platform," CEO Andrea Childs told Decrypt. "Owning the asset rather than leasing capacity from someone whose incentives run opposite to ours is intended to give us a degree of flexibility that we believe few operators have."
Fortitude said the facility is expected to reduce its direct cash cost of mining Zcash from about $70 per coin to roughly $40 per coin, assuming successful deployment of mining equipment and stable power, network and market conditions. For reference, Zcash currently trades for $489 per coin at an $8 billion market capitalization.
The company said the projected savings stem from lower-cost owned power and more efficient next-generation mining hardware.
Zcash mining company Fortitude's Nebraska facility. Image: FortitudeThe facility is expected to purchase electricity for about $0.045 per kilowatt-hour. It is located between two solar generation facilities and next to a substation with excess capacity, allowing it to operate as an interruptible load that can reduce electricity consumption during periods of peak demand.
Launched in January 2025, Fortitude emerged from Digital Currency Group's mining division at Foundry to mine Bitcoin and other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies through what it calls a venture mining strategy. The company said it would reinvest mining profits into new equipment and site acquisitions as it expanded its infrastructure footprint.
"In our view, Zcash today is at a completely different stage than Bitcoin. Our perspective is that Bitcoin's mining economics are mature and crowded when compared to Zcash," Childs added. "We believe Zcash’s time is now, and our vertically integrated structure, coupled with our long-term conviction and history mining the asset, has positioned us to benefit from Zcash’s continued growth and importance in the future of the financial system."
The project comes as cryptocurrency miners race to secure low-cost power, with growing demand from AI data centers increasing competition for electricity and suitable sites.
With data centers facing increasing scrutiny over their electricity and water demands, Grand Island officials said Fortitude's mining facility was designed to operate as a flexible grid resource while limiting its impact on the surrounding community.
"Competition for power has intensified, but in our view, it hasn't slowed us down," Childs said. "By developing and owning our own sites, we seek to control our power costs directly rather than relying on third-party vendors to set them for us."
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Zcash se blíží upgradu Ironwood, který je naplánován na 28. července v bloku 3 428 143 a má posílit bezpečnost sítě a opravit kritickou kryptografickou chybu. Trh sleduje support $477 a rezistenci $680–$750.
Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, is preparing for a significant network milestone as it approaches the Ironwood upgrade, scheduled for July 28 at block height 3,428,143. The update, known as NU6.3, will retire the existing Orchard shielded pool and introduce a new pool featuring a corrected cryptographic circuit after a critical vulnerability was discovered. The upgrade aims to enhance network security and allow further investigation into whether the vulnerability was ever exploited.
Technical patterns highlight key support and resistance zonesMarket observers are closely monitoring ZEC’s price action ahead of the upgrade. Technical analyst Crypto With Gopal has pointed to a falling wedge formation developing on the one-hour chart, centered on the $477 support level. The analyst noted that recent price action shows sellers losing momentum as buyers defend the wedge’s lower trendline, leading to increased price compression.
The analyst suggested that a decisive breakout above the wedge’s upper boundary could indicate a return of bullish momentum—provided that the move is backed by rising trading volume. Such confirmation is considered necessary for signaling renewed demand among market participants.
Sellers are losing momentum while buyers continue defending the lower trendline. This could lead to a breakout if strong volume confirms the reversal.
On the other hand, a breakdown below the wedge’s lower trendline could invalidate the bullish scenario and expose ZEC to further declines. The falling wedge is widely followed by traders as a pattern indicating a potential reversal when confirmed by price movement and volume.
Mini dictionary: Falling wedge, a price chart pattern characterized by converging trendlines, where both the resistance and support lines slope downward. It is often viewed as a signal of a potential bullish reversal when price breaks above resistance and is supported by increased trading volume.
Another prominent analyst, @0xVertix, has identified a broader resistance area for ZEC between $680 and $750. According to this perspective, ZEC has maintained a bullish structure by establishing higher lows since recovering from previous macro lows.
Price continues to print higher lows, showing that buyers remain in control even as price approaches a major resistance band.
The $680-$750 zone has presented strong opposition to upward moves in the past and will be closely watched by traders. A sustained weekly candlestick close above this range would suggest meaningful technical progress, while converting the zone into lasting support could remove major resistance barriers for future gains.
Key ZEC LevelsPrice RangeImplicationSupport$477Short-term defense zone, falling wedge patternResistance$680-$750Major obstacle; a weekly close above could enable further upsidePotential target$1,300-$1,400Projected if trend continues and demand risesTechnical indicators and market sentiment remain neutralDespite the technical patterns outlined by analysts, several market metrics have yet to confirm a change in direction. Data compiled by TradingView for ZECUSDT currently shows an overall Neutral technical rating. Both oscillator and moving average categories are also marked as Neutral.
However, detailed readings for critical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), Average Directional Index (ADX), and Stochastic RSI are currently unavailable in the dataset. This data gap limits the usefulness of the aggregate reading and makes it challenging to determine whether momentum is strengthening or weakening.
Additionally, the absence of populated pivot levels restricts the ability to confirm specific short-term support or resistance areas. As such, current price formations including the falling wedge and the $680-$750 resistance zone should be regarded as chart-based observations rather than confirmed trading signals.
A decisive shift in technical momentum will likely require an increase in price accompanied by stronger volume and improving readings across standard technical indicators.
Outlook ahead of the Ironwood upgradeWhile technical projections remain conditional, the immediate focus for traders is on the $477 support tied to the falling wedge and the critical $680-$750 resistance band. Market structure could shift significantly if ZEC delivers a breakout above key resistance areas, as sustained demand would improve the bullish case.
Conversely, repeated rejections at higher levels or a breakdown from current support would leave ZEC vulnerable to renewed selling pressure and diminish prospects for an extended rally.
With the Ironwood network upgrade approaching, both technical indicators and blockchain developments are expected to affect market sentiment. The upcoming changes aim to reinforce Zcash’s security and privacy features, increasing investor interest in the project as it seeks to solidify its standing among privacy coins.
Until crucial support or resistance levels are broken with conviction, the likelihood of ZEC achieving a sustained move toward $750 remains unconfirmed. Traders are likely to monitor coming sessions closely for signs of a breakout or further consolidation in the lead-up to the network upgrade.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Zcash se obchoduje kolem 502 USD a po ztrátě úrovně 520 USD čelí tlaku před upgradem Ironwood. Klíčový support je na 500 USD, návrat nad 530 USD by zlepšil krátkodobou strukturu.
Zcash price has fallen toward the $500 psychological support as a 4-hour breakdown, leveraged liquidations, and caution before the Ironwood upgrade have weakened market sentiment.
Summary
Zcash price has fallen toward $500 after losing $520 and triggering more than $2 million in long liquidations. Bulls must reclaim $530 to neutralize the bearish structure, while $550 remains the main breakout level. A daily close below $477 could expose $466 and the rounded-top target near $371. According to data from crypto.news, Zcash (ZEC) price traded near $502 on July 24 after losing about 5.5% over the past week. Sellers took control after the token lost $520, while more than $2 million in long positions were liquidated over 24 hours. Automated stop orders added pressure once price slipped through intermediate support at $510.
Outside crypto, Thursday’s technology rout reduced demand for risk assets. The Magnificent Seven erased about $797 billion in market value after Alphabet and Tesla’s earnings raised concerns over heavy artificial intelligence spending. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 2%, while Tesla dropped 14% and Alphabet lost almost 7%.
Oil and bond markets added another obstacle. Brent crude briefly moved above $100 after Houthi attacks on two Saudi tankers raised fears of disruption in the Red Sea. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reached an 18-month high near 4.70%, making speculative assets less attractive as traders reconsidered expectations for lower interest rates.
Crypto funds also lost institutional capital during the selloff. U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $225 million in net outflows on July 23. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for $202 million of the withdrawals, extending the defensive mood into altcoins such as ZEC.
Zcash price must reclaim $530 to repair its short-term structure On the daily chart, ZEC has fallen below its 20-day simple moving average at $514.77 but remains above the 50-day SMA at $477.05 and the 100-day SMA at $466.50. Those averages form the first major support area if bulls cannot hold $500. The 200-day SMA sits much lower at $382.96.
Zcash price daily chart — July 24 | Source: crypto.news Bear-bull power has dropped to minus 25.48, which shows that sellers have gained control after ZEC’s rejection near $570. However, the token remains above its medium- and long-term averages, leaving the daily recovery structure intact unless price closes decisively below the $466–$477 zone.
The 4-hour chart carries a more bearish setup. ZEC has formed a rounded-top structure since its July 15 peak near $580, with price now testing the $500 area. A confirmed breakdown could extend toward $470 before exposing the pattern’s main support and projected target around $370.69.
Zcash price has been forming a rounded-top pattern on the 4-hour chart — July 24 | Source: crypto.news Momentum readings have yet to confirm a reversal. The 4-hour Relative Strength Index stands at 35.11, close to oversold territory but still above 30. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence line remains below its signal line at minus 9.15 versus minus 8.65, while the negative histogram shows that sellers retain an advantage.
According to trader Ardi, $500 has become the main liquidity pivot after ZEC lost $520. The trader expects a brief move below the threshold before any sustained recovery and wrote:
“A reclaim of $530 would return the chart to neutral and likely begin a sideways consolidation phase.”
Ardi identified $550 as the level that would fully break the current bearish structure. Beyond it, $620 would become the next macro breakout barrier. Failure to protect $500, however, could force the trader to close the remaining long position established near $425.
CoinGlass’s three-day liquidation heatmap places the strongest overhead concentration between $524 and $529. A rebound into that band could force short sellers to exit and help ZEC challenge Ardi’s $530 neutral level. Below the market, another dense leverage pocket sits around $490–$494, making that range a likely destination if $500 gives way.
Zcash liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass Derivatives traders have not turned fully bearish. ZEC’s funding rate remained positive at approximately 0.0076%, showing that long positions still pay shorts. Yet falling open interest and weaker spot volume show that fewer traders are willing to carry leverage through the current decline, limiting the fuel available for an immediate rebound.
Loss of $477 would invalidate the remaining bullish setup Ironwood, also known as NU6.3, will activate at block 3,428,143 on July 28. The upgrade will retire the vulnerable Orchard shielded pool and introduce a corrected pool. Funds leaving Orchard must pass through an accounting turnstile designed to prevent more ZEC from exiting than originally entered.
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox has explained that the process cannot identify individual counterfeit coins or prove that the flaw was never exploited. Temporary wallet and exchange interruptions may occur as service providers update their systems, giving short-term traders another reason to reduce exposure before activation.
Zakura offers a longer-term counterweight to those concerns. The new Rust-based full-node client targets 50,000 private transactions per second and can reportedly start from a pruned snapshot in under two minutes. Still, the development has not stopped the current price correction.
A daily close below the 50-day SMA at $477.05 would weaken the primary recovery thesis and expose $466.50, followed by the June support region near $370. Continued ETF withdrawals, high Treasury yields, another oil spike, or complications during Ironwood activation would increase that downside risk. Bulls must first defend $500 and reclaim $530 before ZEC can make another attempt at $550.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
This is a general announcement. Products and services referred to here may not be available in your region. Fellow Binancians, Starting at approximately 2026-07-28 12:00 (UTC), Binance will suspend the deposits and withdrawals of token(s) on the Zcash (ZEC) network to support its network upgrade and hard fork to ensure the best user experience. The network upgrade and hard fork will take place at the block height of 3,428,143, or approximately at 2026-07-28 13:00 (UTC). Please note: The trading of token(s) on the aforementioned network will not be impacted.Binance will handle all technical requirements involved for all users.Deposits and withdrawals for token(s) on the aforementioned network will be reopened once the upgraded network is deemed to be stable. No further announcement will be posted.There may be discrepancies between this original content in English and any translated versions. Please refer to the original English version for the most accurate information, in case any discrepancies arise. For more information, please refer to the announcement from the project team. Thank you for your support! Binance Team 2026-07-21
Zcash po nasazení Ironwood na testnet vzrostl téměř o 37 % a aktualizace nyní míří na mainnet. Zároveň začne ukončení podpory starého uzlu zcashd a ZEC naráží na resistance kolem 560 USD.
Zcash [ZEC] has rallied nearly 37% since developers deployed the Ironwood [NU6.3] upgrade to testnet earlier this month, with the privacy-focused cryptocurrency outperforming many of its peers ahead of the protocol’s next major network upgrade.
As the community prepares for Ironwood’s mainnet activation, the upgrade also marks the beginning of the end for zcashd. This is the network’s long-running reference node, making this one of the most significant transitions in Zcash’s history.
Ironwood aims to strengthen confidence in Zcash’s supply The Zcash Open Development Lab deployed the Ironwood [NU6.3] upgrade to testnet on July 2, with activation following on July 4. The milestone serves as the final testing phase before the planned mainnet rollout later this month.
Ironwood was introduced following the disclosure of an Orchard protocol vulnerability in June. While developers said there was no evidence the issue had been exploited or that user funds were at risk, the flaw highlighted a limitation in proving the integrity of Zcash’s shielded supply.
To address that, Ironwood introduces a new shielded pool alongside a “turnstile” mechanism that enables the network to verify the amount of ZEC migrating into the new pool without compromising transaction privacy.
The upgrade is designed to strengthen confidence in Zcash’s circulating supply while preserving the privacy guarantees that distinguish the network from other cryptocurrencies.
Legacy zcashd node heads for retirement Ironwood also marks a major infrastructure shift for the ecosystem.
The long-running zcashd reference implementation will not support NU6.3. It is being phased out as the network transitions to a Rust-based architecture built around Zebra, Zaino, and Zallet.
Developers have urged node operators to migrate before Ironwood activates on mainnet, as legacy zcashd nodes are approaching their automatic end-of-life shutdown. It will no longer participate in the upgraded network.
The transition represents one of the largest architectural changes since Zcash launched. It replaces the software that has underpinned the blockchain for years.
ZEC price prediction: Bulls pause after 37% advance At press time, ZEC traded around $546, up roughly 37.4% from its early July lows.
The rally has since slowed into a period of consolidation, with buyers attempting to establish support after reaching the recent highs.
The daily RSI stood at around 58, indicating bullish momentum remained intact without entering overbought territory. That suggests buyers still hold a modest advantage. However, the strong upside momentum seen earlier in the month has begun to moderate.
Source: TradingView The immediate resistance lies around $560, where recent advances have repeatedly stalled.
A decisive breakout above that level could pave the way for another attempt at $600, a price zone that acted as resistance earlier this year.
On the downside, the $500 region has emerged as the first meaningful support. Holding above that level would preserve the current higher-low structure. At the same time, a break below it could trigger a deeper pullback before buyers attempt another advance.
Final Summary Zcash’s Ironwood upgrade has entered its final testing phase, introducing a new shielded pool while paving the way for the retirement of the legacy zcashd node. ZEC has gained nearly 37% since Ironwood entered testnet, with bulls now attempting to break above the $560 resistance to target $600.
Zcash dokončil přechod z zcashd na Zebra a Zakura a vstupuje do éry Ironwood. Síť zároveň posiluje dlouhodobou bezpečnost díky formálnímu ověření a kvantové obnově.
Zcash’s infrastructure has entered a new phase as the network completes its transition away from its original software implementation. That evolution took nearly a decade, beginning with zcashd’s 2016 launch before Zebra’s 2024 release introduced a Rust-based alternative.
After the 2024 deprecation notice, node operators had enough time to switch over before the planned retirement. On the 18th of July, zcashd reached end of support at block height 3417100.
Source: X Meanwhile, Zakura completed the new node ecosystem. Rather than simply replacing legacy software, the transition strengthens maintainability, prepares the network for Ironwood, and reduces long-term operational risk.
Zcash’s adoption remains intact Completing Zcash’s infrastructure transition did not remove the market’s biggest question. Instead, it shifted attention to whether users still trusted the network after the Orchard vulnerability. Early activity suggests that confidence largely held.
Although shielded balances declined 14% to 4.42 million ZEC, users continued relying on private transactions, which rose 11.1% QoQ to 131,584.
Source: Zcash on X This trend became even more significant as the anonymity set for ZCash expanded by 325,127 units to 124.08 million.
This indicated an increase in participants using ZCash for privacy purposes. In addition, average daily trading volume increased by 33.8% QoQ to $373 million. This further reinforces that overall use of the network has been increasing.
Rather than reflecting weakening adoption, these trends point to cautious capital repositioning while confidence in Zcash’s privacy infrastructure remained intact.
Formal verification reinforces protocol integrity Even resilient blockchain networks are ultimately judged by how they respond to critical security threats. Zcash faced such a test when researchers found a flaw in Orchard shielded pools that secured roughly 85% of shielded value.
But the flaw stayed contained because disclosure was coordinated, and developers were able to release an emergency fix within days. More importantly, this flaw allowed forgery inside Orchard rather than inflating the total supply of ZEC.
The turnstile mechanism prevented forged funds from leaving the pool other than legitimate deposits. Looking ahead, Ironwood strengthens this protection through formal verification and quantum recovery too.
Together these upgrades move Zcash from reactive fixes towards stronger assurances of long-term security and confidence within the ecosystem.
Final Summary Zcash [ZEC] completed its migration to Zebra and Zakura, strengthening infrastructure while maintaining resilient network activity. Zcash enters the Ironwood era with formal verification and quantum recovery, reinforcing long-term protocol security.
Zakladatel Zcash Zooko Wilcox představil nouzový plán, který má při hard forku Ironwood 28. července 2026 na bloku 3 428 143 uzamknout případné falešné ZEC v původním Orchard poolu. Nový Orchard pool poběží s opravenou kryptografií.
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Zcash (ZEC) co-founder and lead developer, Zooko Wilcox, has revealed the details of an emergency strategy designed to preserve the coin's mathematical integrity. The network is preparing for the Ironwood hard fork (NU6.3), which will activate on July 28, 2026, at block 3,428,143 to permanently isolate the vulnerable Orchard pool and lock up any potentially forged ZEC.
The "turnstile" strategy: How to lock up phantom coinsFor those who missed it, a critical bug was discovered by Shielded Labs researcher Taylor Hornby that could theoretically have allowed hackers to mint ZEC undetected inside the private Orchard pool. By 2026, developers had quickly fixed the vulnerability at the protocol level and found no evidence that it had actually been exploited.
However, because the Orchard pool provides complete privacy, no one can guarantee that hidden issuance did not occur before the patch was deployed.
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Zooko's strategy eliminates the need for blind trust. On July 28, the original Orchard pool will be completely sealed and a new, clean Orchard pool with corrected cryptography will launch in its place.
Ironwood Ironwood Ironwood!
Humanity is going to have a form of money that is unstoppable, private, and has full correctness proofs (formal verification) of some of its key properties, thanks to heroic math by an awesome team led by @TachyonZcash. https://t.co/Z85ktHtoPE
— zooko🛡🦓🦓🦓 ⓩ (@zooko) July 19, 2026 Funds will be transferable from the old system to the new one only through a special turnstile gateway. This cryptographic mechanism strictly controls the balance: it will prevent more coins from leaving the old pool than legitimately entered throughout its entire history.
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If hidden issuance did occur, the counterfeit ZEC will remain permanently frozen inside the old pool, becoming digital waste. At the same time, any user running a personal node will be able to independently verify the accuracy of the circulating supply.
Cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets, and swap services that have not completed their software testing may temporarily suspend ZEC deposits and withdrawals, but developers emphasize that such pauses are routine technical adjustments on the service providers' side, not a threat to the security of users' assets.
Private-wallet holders should also be prepared for their Orchard balances to temporarily appear unavailable.
As of now, ZEC holders only need to wait until July 28, when Ironwood's cryptographic "turnstile" will demonstrate in practice Zcash's ability to protect its economy under conditions of strong privacy guarantees.
Zcash spouští Zakura, nový full node s cílem zvládnout více než 50 000 transakcí za sekundu při zachování soukromí. Podporuje i nadcházející upgrade Ironwood (NU6.3).
Zakura, a new Zcash full node maintained independently of the Zcash Foundation, launches as a pruned, fast-syncing fork of Zebra with compatibility for the legacy zcashd client ahead of its July 18 end of life.The software is one pillar of a broader effort, alongside Project Tachyon and private information retrieval research, to scale Zcash toward Visa- and Mastercard-level throughput by shrinking verification data and removing wallet performance bottlenecks.Zakura supports the Ironwood (NU6.3) upgrade activating July 28, which introduces a turnstile mechanism to cap withdrawals from the Orchard shielded pool and contain any counterfeit ZEC that may have been created via a long‑standing soundness bug.Those rebuilding Zcash have a dream: to match global payments giants Visa and Mastercard by handling tens of thousands of payments every second while preserving full verifiability and strong privacy guarantees.
The first piece of that plan is Zakura, a new full node software released Wednesday at version 1.0.0. It is maintained by Sean Bowe, a founding member of Zcash's zero-knowledge cryptography, and Dev Ojha, the Osmosis cofounder who now leads Valar Group. Both teams are funded by private ZEC donations rather than by a company or a foundation.
"Our dream is to support the world's payments. Mastercard and Visa handle more than 50k transactions per second; that's our floor. With Zcash's existing cryptography, that volume would demand over 500 MB/s of throughput from the node,” a blog post said. “The current stack won't get us there. The cryptography our teams are developing closes much of that gap.”
A full node is the program that keeps a complete copy of a blockchain, the Zcash ledger, in this case, and independently checks every transaction against the network's rules. Zakura is a fork of Zebra, the Zcash Foundation's node software – meaning it started from the Foundation's official code and was rebuilt from there.
Consensus rules are the shared rulebook every node enforces, the thing that decides which blocks and transactions the whole network accepts as valid. If a node applies different rules, it forks off and stops following the same chain as everyone else.
Pruning, snapshots and compatibilityZakura can also prune, a term for deleting old blockchain data a node no longer needs, and cut disk usage substantially. That shrinks the chain enough that the team publishes ready-made copies of it, about 11 gigabytes with the old data stripped, which a new node can download instead of pulling the whole history from other nodes one block at a time.
That takes a node from nothing to running in under two minutes, which the team says is “680 times faster.”
A compatibility mode further reproduces the interface of zcashd, the original client that reaches end of life on July 18, so wallets and exchange integrations built against it will keep working as is.
Throughput targets and Tachyon’s roleThe reason for building all this is arithmetic.
Mastercard and Visa process more than 50,000 transactions per second, and the team calls that figure '“its floor, not its target.” Zcash's current cryptography would require a node to take in and verify more than 500 megabytes of data every second to keep up, because every private transaction carries a proof, and proofs are large.
That is roughly a full DVD of data arriving every ten seconds, continuously, and no current Zcash software runs anywhere near that. But the missing piece is the reason each bottleneck exists.
Bowe's Project Tachyon is tackling this by working on recursive proofs, in which one proof attests to the validity of thousands of others, dramatically reducing the amount of data that must be checked at consensus.
Under Tachyon, a node verifies a single proof instead of the thousands, which the team says reduces the requirement for consensus data from 100 megabytes per second to 500 megabytes, a level they claim is technically achievable with careful engineering.
Wallet bottlenecks and Valar’s PIR solutionWallets have a different problem. Because Zcash hides who a transaction is for, a wallet cannot ask a server which transactions belong to it without giving itself away. It pulls down everything and tests each one, which is why wallet software tops out at about one transaction per second.
To remove that bottleneck, Valar Group is working on private information retrieval techniques that let a wallet fetch its own data from a server without the server learning which entries were requested.
Fast block propagation Fast block propagation means broadcasting newly mined blocks across a blockchain network as quickly as possible. Zakura is a software layer tasked with that.
It has to move new blocks between nodes fast enough for high‑volume proofs and wallet traffic to matter. It ships with an experimental system aimed at delivering every block to every node in under half a second, which is switched off by default for now.
The near‑term test of these ideas arrives in late July. Ironwood, formally NU6.3, activates on mainnet at block 3,428,143, roughly 8 a.m. Eastern on July 28, and Zakura supports it from release.
Bowe said on July 10 that all major organizations are committed to that height, a week later than originally planned, after exchanges and wallet providers requested preparation time.
How Ironwood came into existenceIronwood exists because of a flaw that nearly broke Zcash in June. The so-called shielded pools are the private side of the network, where amounts and participants are hidden, and a zero-knowledge proof stands in as evidence of the math work.
On May 29, Shielded Labs researcher Taylor Hornby found that the proof circuit for Orchard, the newest shielded pool, contained a soundness bug that let an attacker mint counterfeit ZEC with no onchain trace. The flaw had been live since Orchard activated in May 2022.
Developers disabled Orchard through an emergency response completed June 2, then restored it with a corrected circuit via the NU6.2 hard fork at block 3,364,600 on June 3.
The patch could not account for the four years the hole was open. A zero-knowledge proof reveals nothing beyond the fact that it verified, so the chain holds no record of what any Orchard transaction moved, and nobody can prove counterfeit ZEC was never created.
Ironwood is built to settle that. A so-called ‘turnstile’ at the pool's boundary caps what can leave and what can enter, leveraging the fact that ZEC amounts crossing into or out of shielded pools are public even when the transactions inside are not. Sealing Orchard to new deposits leaves the turnstile as the only exit, and any fake coins inside are stuck there.
In simple terms, honest balances can migrate out over time, while counterfeit coins may be prevented from fully exiting and entering into circulated supply. This setting traps any attempted excess supply at the boundary, restoring reliability of the token’s supply.
Zcash buduje novou architekturu node a upgrady Project Tachyon a NU7 s cílem dosáhnout až 50 000 TPS u shielded transakcí. Na testnetu klesla doba bloku ze 75 na 25 sekund a shielded TPS se zdvojnásobilo.
Zcash is swinging for the fences. The privacy-focused blockchain, which currently processes somewhere between 3 and 20 shielded transactions per second, is building toward a future where it can handle 50,000 TPS, putting it in the same conversation as Visa’s payment network. That’s roughly a 2,500x improvement over current capacity.
The ambition is built on a new node architecture and a series of protocol upgrades that collectively aim to make fully private transactions not just possible at scale, but practical.
Project Tachyon and NU7: the engine room The scaling push centers on two key initiatives: Project Tachyon and the NU7 network upgrade. Project Tachyon, led by cryptographer Sean Bowe, targets thousands of TPS for shielded transactions, with estimates suggesting up to 10,000 TPS as a near-term milestone before pushing toward the 50,000 figure.
The NU7 testnet launched on May 22, 2026, and early results are encouraging. Block times dropped from 75 seconds to just 25 seconds, a threefold reduction. Shielded TPS doubled on the testnet compared to previous benchmarks, contributing to what the project describes as a potential 300% increase in transaction speed.
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For context, Zcash’s current shielded throughput of 3 to 20 TPS makes it roughly comparable to Bitcoin’s base layer in terms of raw capacity. The difference is that every shielded Zcash transaction uses zk-SNARKs, a form of zero-knowledge cryptography that proves a transaction is valid without revealing sender, receiver, or amount. That privacy comes with heavy computational overhead, which is precisely what these upgrades are designed to reduce.
The improvements build on years of iterative upgrades, including the Sapling and Orchard shielded pools, which progressively reduced the cost and complexity of private transactions. The new node software, a Rust-based rewrite called Zebra, provides the foundation for these protocol-level scaling changes rather than relying on beefier hardware.
Growing adoption, growing pains Zcash’s shielded pool now constitutes around 30% of total supply. The Zcash Foundation also raised $25 million in March 2026, giving the project fresh capital to fund development. That fundraise coincided with the shielded pool growth, suggesting aligned momentum between builder activity and user adoption.
Zcash’s trajectory hit a serious speed bump in early June 2026 when a critical network vulnerability was discovered and patched. ZEC’s price dropped approximately 48% in the aftermath.
What this means for investors The competitive landscape matters here. Monero, Zcash’s primary rival in the privacy coin space, operates on a fundamentally different privacy model with its own scaling constraints. Meanwhile, general-purpose Layer 1s like Solana boast high TPS numbers but offer no native transaction privacy.
The 48% price crash following June’s vulnerability disclosure shows how quickly confidence can erode. Delivering a 300% speed improvement on a testnet is noteworthy. Delivering Visa-scale private transactions on mainnet, without security incidents, is an entirely different challenge.
The shielded pool reaching 30% of total supply is a metric worth watching closely. If that number continues climbing alongside successful mainnet deployments of NU7, it would suggest organic demand for Zcash’s core privacy proposition. If it stalls or reverses, it may indicate that the security scare did lasting damage to user confidence, regardless of how impressive the throughput numbers look on paper.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Dash aktivoval na mainnetu privacy systém Orchard s technologií zero-knowledge proof ze Zcash, který skrývá odesílatele, příjemce i částku. Transakce mají být potvrzeny zhruba za jednu sekundu.
Dash, a digital payments-focused cryptocurrency launched in 2014, has rolled out a new privacy system called Orchard designed to strengthen user anonymity and transaction confidentiality. The system leverages Zcash’s zero-knowledge proof technology, enabling users to send Dash while shielding the sender, recipient, and amount from public view.
Mainnet launch and transaction improvementsThe Dash Core team announced on X that Orchard pools were activated immediately, emphasizing faster confirmation speeds. According to the developers, transactions on Orchard can be confirmed in approximately one second, while wallet synchronization now takes roughly 20 seconds.
Previously, Dash depended on its PrivateSend feature, which mixed user coins through CoinJoin to obscure transaction trails. PrivateSend provided a degree of fungibility, but required pooling multiple user transactions to make tracing more difficult.
With Orchard, Dash transitions to a cryptographically advanced approach. The system implements zero-knowledge proofs, allowing the network to confirm transaction validity without revealing any participant details or transaction amounts. This represents a significant privacy upgrade compared to the older, mixing-based model.
Dash’s mainnet activation marks the beginning of a new era for privacy on its network, with the team reporting that users can now send funds with the details fully hidden from the public ledger.
Samuel Westrich, chief technology officer of Dash Core Group, described Orchard’s open-source code as mature and relatively straightforward to integrate. The upgrade has been deployed on Dash Evolution, the project’s updated chain introduced in 2024 to deliver faster transaction times and support for token-based applications.
Currently, Orchard covers standard Dash transfers. The team has announced plans to extend privacy features to stablecoins and other digital assets in the future.
Mini dictionary: Zero-knowledge proof — A cryptographic method allowing one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. This is often used in privacy coins to keep sensitive transaction data confidential.
Zcash bug and market responseOrchard’s implementation on Dash arrives at a turbulent time for Zcash, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency that originally developed the Orchard system. On May 29, 2026, security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered a flaw in Zcash’s Orchard circuit. The bug had existed since Orchard’s activation in May 2022, raising concerns about Zcash’s total supply integrity.
This vulnerability could have allowed the creation of counterfeit Zcash tokens in complete secrecy due to Orchard’s privacy features. Following disclosure on June 4, Zcash (ZEC) experienced a steep price decline, falling from about $602 to around $299, marking a drop of more than 50%.
Zcash developers rapidly addressed the bug through an emergency update and have stated they found no evidence of the flaw being exploited.
The upcoming Ironwood update, scheduled for July 28 at block height 3,428,143, introduces a “turnstile” accounting system to cap total supply and enable verification in case counterfeit coins were created.
Dash’s new privacy system uses Orchard technology but operates independently from Zcash’s network. Despite technical similarities, no part of the bug discovered in Zcash affects Dash directly. However, the timing of Dash’s adoption of Orchard comes only weeks after Zcash’s critical incident.
CoinOrchard ActivationRecent Security BugMarket ImpactDashJune 2026No+0.2% daily increaseZcashMay 2022Yes, May 2026-50% after bug disclosureThe Dash market showed little reaction to the Orchard integration. On the day of the announcement, Dash edged up by just 0.2%, maintaining a market capitalization near $431 million and ranking 84th among cryptocurrencies by market value.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, has delivered robust gains over the past three weeks. ZEC’s price climbed from late June lows of $368 to approximately $552 on Tuesday, representing a 56% rally. According to CoinGecko, ZEC jumped 11% in a single trading session and has now returned to levels last seen several months ago.
Technical breakout and resistance levelsTraders observed ZEC clearing two crucial resistance zones at $500 and $560. With these levels surpassed, attention has shifted to the $644 resistance, which now forms the central barrier confronting bullish momentum in the four-hour time frame. Market participants noted that a move above $644 would reinforce ZEC’s short-term bullish reversal, paving the way for further upside targets at $690 and $750.
In the latest session on Wednesday, July 15, ZEC advanced another 1.6%, consolidating near $566 at the upper Bollinger Band. The middle band currently sits at $464. The Chaikin Money Flow, a technical indicator tracking buying pressure, has held above +0.05 for the past three sessions, suggesting persistent accumulation by market participants.
On the daily chart, the Relative Strength Index reads around 62, above its moving average but below the overbought threshold at 70, indicating room for further upward momentum.
Key LevelStatus$368Late June low$500Broken resistance$560Broken resistance$644Current resistance$675-$680Next channel target$690Potential next target$750Potential next targetIronwood upgrade and security enhancementsMuch of the recent optimism stems from the imminent Ironwood shielded pool upgrade, scheduled to launch on the mainnet around July 28. This update aims to reinforce Zcash’s privacy and security infrastructure following the public disclosure in early June of a long-standing counterfeiting vulnerability within the Orchard shielded pool—an essential feature protecting user transactions from public view.
Project Tachyon, together with Zcash’s core development teams, continues to finalize mathematical proofs to ensure the Ironwood upgrade resolves these flaws without introducing new vulnerabilities. Community updates have highlighted successful progress, with all consensus rule changes implemented and extensive code audits underway.
Project developers reported that all Ironwood upgrade consensus rules have been implemented and are undergoing comprehensive audits, with technical specifications approaching finalization.
The legacy Zcashd full-node client will be deprecated on July 18, urging node operators to migrate to the updated Zebra implementation to ensure full network compatibility.
Mini dictionary: Zebra is Zcash’s new official consensus node software, built to provide secure and stable full-node functionality and replace the older Zcashd client. It is developed by the Zcash Foundation to improve network performance and security.
Rising open interest and macro driversBeyond technical elements, broader market conditions have also contributed to ZEC’s rally. The US Consumer Price Index in June came in at 3.5%, softer than the anticipated 3.8%, reducing expectations for further Federal Reserve rate hikes. This macro development boosted demand for risk assets, helping Bitcoin rise from $62,000 to above $64,000 and supporting a positive environment for alternative coins like Zcash.
Futures data shows open interest in ZEC contracts briefly topping $750 million, a surge of more than 12% in just 24 hours. Such increased activity reflects a notable shift in trader sentiment and risk appetite. Analyst Ali Charts spotlighted $675-$680 as the next major technical zone to watch, describing sustained buying pressure throughout July.
Analyst Ali Charts identified $675-$680 as the pivotal channel boundary for ZEC’s ongoing uptrend and noted that ZEC continues to climb on persistent momentum.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
