zcash

Zcash (ZEC) has plummeted about 60% since its peak in November 2025, while Cypherpunk Technologies, the treasury company for the Zcash digital asset supported by the Winklevoss brothers, has stopped increasing its holdings since its last disclosure of purchasing ZEC on December 30 last year. The company was established in November 2025 and currently holds 290,062.67 ZEC, accounting for approximately 1.76% of the total supply, with a goal of holding 5%.Since the last purchase, the price of ZEC has dropped over 50%, currently trading at around $245. Based on an average purchase price of $334, Cypherpunk has an unrealized loss of $25.73 million, a decline of 26.5%. ZEC started its upward trend at the end of September last year, reaching as high as $700 in mid-November, but has since given back most of its gains.In contrast, other major DAOs are still actively increasing their holdings. Michael Saylor's Strategy has made 5 Bitcoin purchases in 2026, despite an unrealized loss of $4.36 billion. Tom Lee's BitMine has also made the same number of ETH purchases this year, with unrealized losses reaching $6 billion this week.

An independent core development team led by Zcash (ZEC) founder Zooko, Shielded Labs, announced that it has received a donation from Vitalik Buterin, aimed at supporting the development of Crosslink.It is reported that Crosslink enhances Zcash's existing proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism by adding a parallel finality layer, thereby preventing chain reorganization and rollback attacks. All block generation and economic activity still occur on the PoW chain, while the finality mechanism anchors blocks and provides stronger settlement guarantees. By ensuring that confirmed transactions are irreversible, Crosslink reduces the risk of double spending and increases the reliability of transaction settlements. In commenting on the donation, Vitalik stated, "Zcash is one of the most trusted cryptocurrency projects, always maintaining a focus on privacy. The Crosslink project by Shielded Labs will make Zcash more secure while reducing the security budget, thus supporting its long-term sustainability."

The Zcash Foundation has released its strategic priorities for 2026, which include:Unique consensus node implementation Zebra: Focus on enhancing performance, completing the NU7 ZIP implementation, and advancing the Z3 tech stack to replace zcashd;Continue to advance the FROST threshold signature scheme: Plan to release version 3, finalize ZIP-312, and introduce the distributed key generation (DKG) protocol;Privacy Assistance Initiative (SAI): Promote a "privacy by default" digital cash assistance model and explore zero-knowledge proof-based identity solutions, achieving a balance between compliance, accountability, and privacy protection.

Arthur Hayes published an article titled "Woomph" analyzing that the recent continuous depreciation of the yen and the decline in Japanese government bond prices are triggering "anomalies" in the global financial markets. He believes that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury may be forced to work together to directly intervene in the yen exchange rate and the Japanese government bond market by expanding their balance sheets, thereby injecting new liquidity into the global fiat currency system.He stated, "The yen is strengthening against the dollar, and Bitcoin prices are falling. I will not increase risk until it is confirmed that the Federal Reserve is printing money to intervene in the yen and Japanese government bond market. If there is a significant increase in foreign currency-denominated assets on the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, it will be a good time to increase Bitcoin holdings." Before the yen's trend shows volatility, he has closed positions in high-leverage Bitcoin-related assets such as Strategy and Metaplanet; if his judgment is validated, he will re-enter the market.While waiting for policy clarity, his fund Maelstrom continues to increase its holdings in Zcash, while maintaining positions in other quality DeFi tokens; once the Federal Reserve confirms balance sheet expansion intervention, he will consider increasing positions in DeFi assets such as ENA, ETHFI, PENDLE, and LDO.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes published an in-depth analysis in his latest article regarding the recent depreciation of the yen and the decline in Japanese government bond prices, which has caused "anomalies" in the global market. He believes this indicates that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury may soon collaborate to directly intervene in the yen and Japanese government bond markets through "money printing" to inject new liquidity into the global fiat currency system.Hayes specifically outlined the possible intervention path: the New York Fed creates dollar reserves and instructs primary dealers like JPMorgan to sell dollars and buy yen in the foreign exchange market to support the exchange rate, and may invest the acquired yen in Japanese government bonds to lower their yields. This operation will lead to an expansion of the "foreign currency-denominated assets" item on the Fed's balance sheet, essentially meaning that the Fed is taking on the interest rate risk of the yen exchange rate and Japanese government bonds through money printing.He analyzed the motives and consequences of this move: aimed at stabilizing the yen and lowering Japanese government bond yields to prevent Japanese investors from massively selling U.S. Treasuries, avoiding uncontrolled increases in U.S. Treasury yields, while enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. exports.This process will increase global dollar liquidity and may simultaneously boost the euro and yuan exchange rates. Hayes pointed out that this "non-QE" style of balance sheet expansion will ultimately provide upward momentum for risk assets, including Bitcoin. In terms of trading strategy, he stated that a rapid strengthening of the yen against the dollar is usually a signal for reducing risk assets. Bitcoin's decline due to the strengthening yen means he will not increase his risk exposure until it is confirmed that the Fed is intervening in the yen and Japanese government bond markets by expanding its balance sheet.He has closed positions in leveraged Bitcoin-related assets such as Strategy and Metaplanet, stating that he will re-enter if his judgment proves correct. In the meantime, his fund Maelstrom continues to increase its holdings in Zcash, while positions in other quality DeFi tokens remain unchanged. He indicated that if the Fed indeed expands its balance sheet to intervene in the currency and bond markets, he will increase his holdings in DeFi assets such as ENA, ETHFI, PENDLE, and LDO.

According to CoinDesk, the market shows that Bitcoin has fluctuated and consolidated after falling below $90,000. Analysts believe this decline aligns with the risk-averse sentiment in traditional markets, leading to an increase in risk aversion in the crypto market.Derivatives data shows that Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility (IV) rose to 44.34 on Tuesday, while the open interest (OI) in the past 24 hours fell by 3.25% to $28.3 billion, indicating that traders with short positions took profits during this period. However, the funding rate generally remained positive throughout the sell-off.Additionally, Zcash's open interest decreased by 2.5%, while its price rose by 1.5%, indicating that holders of short positions have begun to reduce their bearish exposure since January 8.

Shielded Labs announced on platform X that it has received a donation of 3,221 ZEC from Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, valued at approximately $1.2 million. The funds will be used to support core initiatives such as network sustainability mechanisms, Crosslink, and dynamic fees, aimed at enhancing the long-term security, sustainability, and scalability of the Zcash network.This is the second donation from Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss to the organization, following their initial donation in 2023 to support the establishment of the Crosslink task force. Shielded Labs is a Zcash support organization based in Switzerland, with its funding entirely sourced from donations, independent of developer funds and block reward operations.

The Zcash Foundation stated this Wednesday that the U.S. SEC has officially concluded its years-long investigation into the organization and has made it clear that it does not plan to take any enforcement action or require remediation.The foundation disclosed that it received a subpoena from the SEC in August 2023, related to "In the Matter of Certain Crypto Asset Offerings." Currently, the SEC has completed its review and closed the case. An SEC spokesperson responded that the agency "does not comment on whether an investigation exists."This case closure occurs against the backdrop of a shift in the SEC's stance on crypto regulation. During the Trump administration, the SEC withdrew or terminated enforcement actions or investigations against several crypto entities, including Coinbase and multiple DeFi projects, which is markedly different from the Biden administration's hardline approach characterized by "enforcement-style regulation."Current SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is pushing for updates to crypto regulatory rules through "Project Crypto," focusing on on-chain activities and technological realities.It is worth noting that the Zcash ecosystem has recently experienced fluctuations. On January 8, all employees of the core developer Electric Coin Company collectively resigned due to structural disagreements with the board of its parent organization. In response, the Zcash Foundation emphasized that its commitment to the protocol remains unchanged and pointed out that the Zcash network is independent of any single organization or entity, and that organizational adjustments within the ecosystem do not equate to a deterioration in the health of the network itself.

According to official news, the Zcash Foundation has announced that in response to the Electric Coin Company (ECC) ceasing service responses for its DNS seed nodes, five new DNS seed nodes have been deployed in the United States and Europe. The newly deployed seed nodes are located in South Carolina and Oregon in the United States, as well as in Belgium, Germany, and Finland in Europe.As of now, including the existing seed nodes, the total number of seed nodes operated by the Zcash Foundation has reached six, aimed at ensuring reliable node discovery for users and improving the startup performance of wallets and nodes.In addition, the Zcash Foundation is considering further deployments in other regions to enhance coverage and reliability, and Shielded Labs is also working on deploying additional seed nodes.

The Zcash Foundation stated on platform X that Zcash is always a decentralized open-source protocol, with no single contributor, team, or organization able to control Zcash.From its inception, Zcash was designed with resilience in mind. Its codebase is fully open-source, and the consensus rules are maintained by independent node operators worldwide, supported by a diverse range of organizations and contributors. As the guardians of the protocol, the mission of the Zcash Foundation is to serve the public interest, focusing on: maintaining and supporting the development of the Zcash protocol, funding independent research and engineering practices, supporting the decentralization of infrastructure and governance, and advocating for privacy as a fundamental human right.

The CEO of ECC, the original development team of Zcash, Josh Swihart, stated in a post on X that they will continue to fully invest in Zcash. In addition, they will build a new Zcash wallet, which is now open for pre-application.

In response to the collective departure of the Zcash development team, the nonprofit organization behind the project, Bootstrap, clarified that the governance disputes leading to the departure of team members stemmed from legal restrictions faced while seeking external investment. Discussions have been held regarding "alternative structures for external investment and the privatization of Zashi," while collaborating with legal advisors to ensure that any path forward complies with U.S. nonprofit laws, aligns with Zcash's long-term mission, and does not jeopardize the broader Zcash community.

ECC's former CEO Josh Swihart stated that due to serious differences in mission with some board members of the Zcash governance body Bootstrap (ZCAM), all members of ECC (Electric Coin Company) collectively resigned yesterday and are forming a new company to continue the development of Zcash-related privacy technologies.Swihart emphasized that the Zcash protocol itself is unaffected, and this move aims to resist destructive interference from the governance layer, ensuring that the team can sustainably advance the vision of "unstoppable private money."

Arthur Hayes stated that privacy will define the next wave of cryptocurrency trading, with Zcash becoming a privacy beta in this context. His family office, Maelstrom, has established a significant position in Zcash at a low price in the third quarter of 2025, making Zcash the second-largest liquid asset holding in its portfolio, after Bitcoin.Arthur Hayes believes that as U.S. political motivations lean towards aggressive credit expansion, the increased dollar liquidity will support Bitcoin and privacy assets. Furthermore, Maelstrom is shifting its research and portfolio strategy towards the zero-knowledge proof ecosystem.

GrayScale's report states that the cryptocurrency market will enter an adjustment phase in the fourth quarter of 2025, with all six major crypto sectors showing negative returns. Privacy-related assets performed better than other sectors, especially Zcash (ZEC). As the integration of blockchain and traditional finance deepens, the demand for privacy tools becomes increasingly evident. The usage rate of Zcash's "shielded accounts" continues to grow, indicating a rising market demand for privacy features.Other notable privacy assets include Monero (XMR), Decred (DCR), Dash (DASH), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Beldex (BDX). Among them, Dash's daily trading volume doubled in Q4, BAT's Brave browser reached over 100 million monthly active users, and Beldex integrated LayerZero to achieve cross-chain interoperability. Looking ahead to 2026, the market is focused on two major themes: first, the U.S. Congress's legislation on the structure of the cryptocurrency market, which is expected to become law and provide traditional financial rules for the crypto capital market; second, the potential threat of quantum computing to blockchain encryption methods. Although quantum computing technology is still in its early stages, it may prompt the market to assess the ability of blockchain to respond to quantum challenges.