What is Zcash (ZEC)? The Privacy Coin Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs
Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that enables users to hide key details of transactions by leveraging zk-SNARKs.
Market Cap (Mcap)
Rank
#10Mcap
$20.76BFully Diluted Mcap
$20.76BSupply
Circulating
16,981,864Total
21,000,000Created On
Oct 28th, 2016All Time High (ATH)
ATH
$3.19kATH Change
-61.69%ATH Date
Oct 28th, 2016Total Value Locked (TVL)
TVL
N/AMCap to TVL Ratio
N/AFDV to TVL Ratio
N/AZcash Chart
Price
Volume
Market Cap
Other coins
Learn about Zcash
What Are Privacy Coins? Monero, Zcash, and Dash Explained
So-called privacy coins use advanced techniques to shield details from public view, but they’ve come under increased scrutiny from regulators.
Zcash News
Oct 11, 2026
Technology
How Zcash Plans to Hide Your Keys From AI and Quantum Attacks
While much of crypto is still debating “bunker mode,” one team of Zcash developers says it already has a plan. Zakura, which builds a Zcash full node, said its team expects post-quantum signature opcodes to land in Zcash in January. Opcodes are low-level instructions that would let the network verify a new type of signature. Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction. The goal, according to an engineering post by Roman Akhtariev, is “full post-quantum safe transparent poo...
Oct 6, 2026
Business
Another Zcash ETF Is Coming: Winklevoss Twins File for 'WINK'
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are making a bet on privacy coins, filing with regulators to launch a spot Zcash exchange-traded fund as the once-shunned asset enjoys a dramatic revival. The Winklevoss Zcash ETF, outlined in an S-1 registration statement filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, would hold ZEC directly and seek to track its price, giving investors exposure through a traditional brokerage account rather than buying and storing the token themselves. The fund is slated...
Oct 6, 2026
Markets
Bitcoin Falls Asleep, But Privacy Coins Zcash and Monero Are Waking Up
After weeks of Bitcoin turning heads and climbing the charts, the top of the crypto market is now barely moving. Bitcoin trades at $86,264.06, up 0.59% over 24 hours. Ethereum sits at $2,714.39, up just 0.34%. The whole market is worth just north of $3 trillion, essentially flat for the day, according to CoinGecko data. The rest of the 12 largest coins are drifting in roughly the same way. Solana gained 1.4% and XRP 1.07%, while BNB lost 0.41% and Tron 0.22%. Myriad: How high will Bitcoin go? Cl...
Oct 1, 2026
Markets
Zcash Drops 21% From Recent High—Here’s Why the Rally May Not Be Over
Zcash is having a rough Thursday. ZEC is trading at $1,333.50, down 7.29% on the day, with about three hours left before the daily candle closes. That puts the privacy coin roughly 21% below the $1,698.00 peak it hit in late September. It also shows how far ZEC had run: the coin climbed about 253% from a $480.72 base to that high. Myriad: Where does XRP go next? Click to make your prediction. The wider market isn't offering a lifeline. Bitcoin spiked to $85,600 on Wednesday after softer-than-exp...
Sep 25, 2026
Technology
Researchers Publish 'Zcash-Style' Design for Private Bitcoin Transfers
Researchers at Bitcoin cryptography developer [[alloc] init] have published a design for "ZCash-style" private transfers that would hide the sender, recipient and amount of a payment while running on the existing Bitcoin network. The 56-page paper, dated September 24, 2026, is written by Clara Shikhelman, Mikhail Komarov and Aleksei Moskvin. The team has "put a lot of work into thinking carefully about the security of Shielded Bitcoin and about what information the protocol reveals," Shikhelman...
Sep 24, 2026
Law and Order
In Her Final Weeks, SEC's Peirce Calls for Ending the KYC 'Panopticon'
Departing SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce is making a case for using cryptography to overhaul how the financial system polices crime, arguing that regulators' hunger for personal data has built vast, hackable troves that endanger the very people they aim to protect. Speaking Wednesday at SIFMA's Digital Assets Conference in New York, Peirce said the "know your customer" and anti-money laundering regime rests on a flawed premise: that collecting enough information on enough people will help author...
Sep 23, 2026
Coins
Zcash's Wall Street Moment Reaches Europe With Its First ETP Listing
The cypherpunk favorite Zcash continues to find interest among traditional investors. 21Shares listed Europe's first Zcash exchange-traded product on Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam on Sept. 22. The physically backed fund trades under the ticker ZCASH and charges a 2.5% annual management fee, well above what most Bitcoin and Ether ETPs charge on the same exchanges. Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction. The listing arrived alongside a companion product tracking...
Sep 19, 2026
Business
Grayscale Is Making Its Red-Hot Zcash ETF More Affordable
Grayscale's Zcash ETF is so hot right now, they are making shares 300% more accessible to retailers. The fund, ticker ZCSH, filed to carry out a 3-for-1 forward share split on Friday, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders of record at the close of trading on Sept. 28 will receive two extra shares for every one they already hold. Myriad: How high will Bitcoin go? Click to make your prediction. A forward split doesn't change what your investment is wo...
Sep 18, 2026
Coins
Zcash Is Running—Devs Want to Make It Faster
Zcash developers are targeting Nov. 5 to switch on NU7, the network's next major upgrade. The biggest improvement is set to be block time, the gap between each confirmed batch of transactions, drops from 75 seconds to 25. That's a three-times speedup for a coin built around zero-knowledge proofs—math that lets someone prove a payment is valid without revealing who sent it, to whom, or how much. Shorter blocks mean shielded, private transactions confirm almost as fast as a card swipe. Myriad: How...
Sep 17, 2026
Markets
Bitcoin Bounces as Markets Brace for the Fed’s Next Move
Bitcoin traded near $76,300 on Thursday, largely unmoved a day after the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest rate hike since July 2023. The Fed lifted its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4%, a move all 12 Federal Open Market Committee members backed. Traders had priced in a 93% probability of the hike heading into the decision, per CME's FedWatch tool. Myriad: Where does Bitcoin go next? Click to make your prediction. Wall Street's reaction ran hotter than crypt...
Sep 17, 2026
Opinion
Morning Minute: Crypto Rebounds After The Fed’s First Hike Since 2023
Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. And check out our daily news show 'FOMO HOUR' covering all of the top stories and market action. GM! Today’s top news: Crypto majors are green after FOMC’s rate hike; BTC at $76.4k Alts soar double digits led by ZEC, NEAR, LIT and VVV House advances the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill Circle’s Arc chain sees $400M+ volume in debut Rob...
Sep 17, 2026
Markets
Zcash Closes On $1,400 After Coinholders Vote to Keep Bitcoin-Style Halvings
Zcash surged double digits to $1,388 Thursday, after the community settled the shape of its next network upgrade. ZEC is currently trading at $1,368, up 10.9% on the day and 168% over 30 days, making it the ninth-largest asset by market cap at $22.9 billion, per CoinGecko data. The privacy coin's move up the rankings signals that "the market is redefining the value of privacy," according to Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey, with Zcash "the leading front-runner in this wave of narratives." R...
Sep 4, 2026
Markets
Zcash Hits Highest Price in Nearly a Decade, Crushing Short Bets
Zcash broke above $1,000 on Friday, its best price in almost a decade, extending a run that started near $500 a month ago. The token touched an intraday high of $1,029 on Binance before easing to around $984, up roughly 20% over 24 hours, scoring a new all-time high. The privacy coin’s market cap climbed toward $17 billion, enough to push ZEC past Dogecoin among the ten largest cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketCap. Myriad: Where does XRP price go next? Click to make your prediction. The...
Aug 25, 2026
Coins
Grayscale Launches Zcash ETF Following Critical Privacy Flaw That Rocked the Cryptocurrency
Grayscale’s Zcash Exchange Traded Fund, better known as an ETF, began trading Tuesday on NYSE Arca, listing a nine-year-old investment product months after developers disclosed and patched a critical vulnerability in the privacy coin’s shielded transaction system. Trading under the ticker ZCSH, the world’s first exchange-traded product offering spot Zcash exposure allows investors to track the price of ZEC through brokerage accounts without having to buy or store the token themselves. “Grayscal...
Aug 24, 2026
Coins
Zcash Hits Eight-Year High as Futures Bets Nearly Double
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: Bitcoi...
Aug 19, 2026
Coins
Winklevoss-Backed Cypherpunk Launches 'World's Largest' Zcash Mining Fleet
Cypherpunk Technologies, the Winklevoss-backed privacy firm building a treasury around the privacy coin Zcash, has stood up what it calls the world's largest Zcash mining operation, expanding beyond simply accumulating the privacy coin to producing it. The Nasdaq-listed company said Monday it launched Cypherpunk Mining through a $33.33 million equity-based deal with Winklevoss Capital, acquiring the latest-generation Z15 Pro machines and their hosting agreements. Myriad: XRP price next move? Cli...
Aug 5, 2026
Markets
Bitcoin Tests Market’s Patience as Zcash Gives Holders Hope: Analysis
It was a quiet crypto trading session in a quiet summer, but the charts are painting different pictures for Bitcoin, the market leader, and Zcash, one of the hottest altcoins of the last year. Bitcoin spent the week dealing with fears of quantum and AI threats: CNBC's Jim Cramer said he's dumping his BTC over quantum-computing fears, and a separate $130 million Coldcard wallet exploit, disclosed late last week, added a custody scare on top. On the macro side, the Federal Reserve, holding rates...
Aug 3, 2026
Coins
Crypto Privacy Tools Serve ‘Essential Protective Functions’: Report by ChangeNOW, CoinRabbit
Crypto privacy tools serve “essential protective functions” that restore a measure of financial privacy that has always existed in TradFi, according to a new report from non-custodial crypto platform ChangeNOW and digital asset management platform CoinRabbit. Building on data from sources including TRM Labs, Chainalysis, RAND Corporation and the authors’ own internal research, the report highlights the risks of data exposure on conventional public blockchains. They include financial access under...
Jul 29, 2026
The Coins
What is Zcash (ZEC)? The Privacy Coin Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs
For many years, Bitcoin was used to buy drugs online because it was believed to be anonymous. Turns out, it’s surprisingly easy to track Bitcoin transactions. Zcash, on the other hand, is a cryptocurrency that promised something Bitcoin couldn’t deliver: privacy. How Zcash works Zcash is designed to hide key transaction details, such as the sender, recipient, and amount. By using cryptographic techniques, transfers can be made that can’t easily be traced on a public ledger while remaining verifi...
Jul 28, 2026
Coins
Zcash Activates Ironwood Upgrade After Counterfeiting Scare
Weeks after a critical vulnerability sparked a market rout and raised questions about Zcash's supply, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency has activated Ironwood, an upgrade designed to ensure any counterfeit coins can never enter circulation. The Ironwood upgrade retires the Orchard shielded pool, which holds roughly 3.7 million ZEC worth about $1.7 billion, and begins migrating users into a new shielded pool. The upgrade also introduces new accounting rules for Zcash's circulating supply while p...