zcash

According to official news, the Zcash Open Development Lab, founded by former Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart, has completed over $25 million in funding. This round of financing was participated in by Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Cypherpunk Technologies, Maelstrom, Chapter One, Balaji Srinivasan, David Friedberg, Haseeb Qureshi, James Nicholas, and others.ECC launched its flagship Zcash wallet Zodl in 2024, setting a new standard for Zcash usability. Earlier this year, the original ECC team, including the wallet product team, joined ZODL as a whole to continue building the main user interface for Zcash, aiming to create Zodl as an open self-custody privacy financial platform, expanding ecosystem interoperability through collaboration, and driving privacy ZEC transactions into the global mainstream.The development of the Zcash protocol remains a core focus for ZODL. Engineers who previously designed, built, and maintained key systems for Zcash at ECC have joined ZODL, continuing to advance the protocol evolution with the same commitment and integrity, ensuring that technological advancements support real needs and drive Zcash's product-market fit.At the heart of the Zcash Open Development Lab is the development of an open, self-custodied private financial platform, aimed at expanding ecosystem interoperability through collaboration and pushing protected ZEC transactions into the global mainstream market.

According to market news, the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization performed as follows, with the top five gainers: Humanity Protocol (H) up 17.6%, current price $0.1695; River (RIVER) up 11.99%, current price $17.78; Kite (KITE) up 5.62%, current price $0.2834; MemeCore (M) up 4.51%, current price $1.49; Pi (PI) up 2.27%, current price $0.1979.The top five losers: Zcash (ZEC) down 8.6%, current price $212.49; Morpho (MORPHO) down 8.35%, current price $1.78; Ethena (ENA) down 7.4%, current price $0.1071; Pump.fun (PUMP) down 7.29%, current price $0.001906; Worldcoin (WLD) down 6.19%, current price $0.3867.

According to Cointelegraph, Dash is a Layer-1 blockchain protocol with privacy features, announcing the integration of Zcash's "Orchard" shielded pool into the Dash Evolution chain, which is a secondary layer on the L1 network that supports smart contract functionality.The integration will go live after the completion of a network security audit, expected to launch in March. Initially, the integration will support the basic transfer functionality of Zcash. The announcement stated that the transaction will transfer from one party to another on the Evolution chain, with subsequent upgrades adding Orchard's privacy features for tokenized real-world assets (RWA).

Gray's Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm stated at the Consensus Hong Kong conference:"If you have a business need to make large payments to vendors but don't want other companies or competitors to see this, which could expose your business information, you would want this transaction to remain private.Paying with Bitcoin doesn't necessarily achieve this because the blockchain is transparent. We've all seen accounts specifically tracking on-chain transactions on platform X. So you can imagine scenarios where this demand exists.And privacy-preserving tokens like Zcash are interesting because of 'selective disclosure'; you can choose to disclose information to a specific party, such as proving to the IRS that you have paid your taxes correctly, while maintaining privacy in everyday business or personal transactions.So, we think this is a very interesting currency. We already have a substantial Zcash trust, and we are working on converting it into an ETF, just like we have done for several other products."

According to The Block, Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of the American blockchain investment group Digital Currency Group (DCG), stated that in the coming years, 5% - 10% of Bitcoin funds will flow into privacy cryptocurrencies represented by Zcash.Silbert mentioned at the New York Bitcoin Investors Roundtable that while he is optimistic about Bitcoin as a core part of a diversified portfolio, he prefers to invest in transformative projects that have the potential for 100 to 1000 times returns. He believes that projects like Zcash and Bittenser could achieve 500 times growth. Silbert pointed out that the narrative of Bitcoin being seen as "anonymous cash" is no longer valid in the era of blockchain analytics companies like Chainalysis and Elliptic, and he is skeptical about Bitcoin's ability to achieve any privacy features. Notably, Grayscale, a subsidiary of DCG, offers a Zcash trust fund and is seeking to convert it into an ETF.

According to The Block, Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, stated at the Bitcoin Investor Summit that 5% to 10% of Bitcoin's total supply will flow into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies in the coming years, and he believes that privacy coins are currently the most asymmetric return potential investment in the industry.Silbert expressed that he remains optimistic about Bitcoin as a core asset, but under the premise that the dollar does not fully collapse, Bitcoin no longer has the potential for 500x growth. He believes that projects like Zcash and the zero-knowledge proof-based privacy blockchain Bittensor have such potential and has allocated assets accordingly.He pointed out that the early narrative of Bitcoin as "anonymous cash" has become difficult to sustain after the widespread adoption of chain analysis technology, and it is also unlikely that the network will integrate native privacy features in the future. Silbert also mentioned that Zcash serves as a hedging tool against the potential technological risks that quantum computing may pose to Bitcoin.

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.