Last week, Foundry announced the launch of a Zcash mining pool, marking one of the first major institutional entries into the Zcash mining ecosystem. The move highlights growing interest in privacy-focused proof-of-work networks at a time when Bitcoin mining margins are tightening. In this issue, we take a deep dive into Zcash (ZEC) explaining how the protocol works, the mechanics of Equihash mining, and the hardware and economics securing the network. We also examine recent hashrate developments and the strategic opportunity for Foundry, and what this could mean for institutional miners and the broader digital asset infrastructure landscape.
What Is Zcash?
Zcash’s Explosive 2025 Rally
How Zcash Works
Transparent vs Shielded Transactions
Equihash Mining Algorithm Explained
Equihash ASIC Manufacturers and Market Structure
Zcash Mining Economics
Zcash Halving Schedule
Zcash Network Hashrate Developments
Foundry Announces Zcash Mining Pool – Premium Insights
Hashrate Distribution and Opportunity for Foundry – Premium Insights
Zcash’s Role in Institutional Digital Asset Infrastructure – Premium Insights
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What Is Zcash?
Zcash (ZEC) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses advanced cryptography to enable confidential transactions on a public blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, where all transaction details are visible on the ledger, Zcash allows users to shield key transaction information, including the sender, receiver, and transaction amount.
This is achieved through zero-knowledge proofs, a cryptographic method that allows a transaction to be verified without revealing the underlying data. As a result, Zcash offers a hybrid model combining the transparency of public blockchains with the confidentiality typically associated with traditional financial systems.
Zcash shares several characteristics with Bitcoin. It has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins, uses proof-of-work mining, and operates on a decentralized blockchain network. However, its optional privacy model and cryptographic innovations distinguish it from most other cryptocurrencies.
In recent years, Zcash has experienced renewed attention. Following improvements in wallet infrastructure and privacy tooling, the share of coins stored in shielded pools has grown significantly. For institutions and users concerned about financial privacy, Zcash represents one of the most mature privacy technologies in the cryptocurrency sector.
Zcash’s Explosive 2025 Rally
The renewed attention was also reflected by the coin’s price action in 2025. In less than ten weeks, Zcash (ZEC) surged from roughly $40 to $745, representing a 1,762% price increase and one of the most dramatic rallies in the digital asset market in 2025. After a prolonged period of sideways trading, the move surprised many observers and reignited interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
Several factors contributed to the surge. Capital rotated into the privacy coin narrative as macro uncertainty stabilized, while thin market liquidity amplified price movements. On-chain data and order-book activity also suggested concentrated buying from large investors rather than retail speculation, indicating the rally may have been driven by institutional or whale accumulation rather than a broad retail wave.
How Zcash Works
Zcash operates similarly to Bitcoin in many respects. It uses a proof-of-work blockchain, where miners compete to solve cryptographic puzzles and validate new blocks. However, Zcash introduces an additional layer of privacy through zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge).
These proofs allow the network to verify that the sender has sufficient funds, the transaction is valid and no double-spending occurs, without revealing the sender’s address, the recipient’s address, or the amount transferred.
Transparent vs Shielded Transactions
Zcash uses two types of addresses:
Transparent addresses (t-addresses): Transactions function similarly to Bitcoin, with all information publicly visible.
Shielded addresses (z-addresses): Transactions use zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt transaction data.
For maximum privacy, transactions occur entirely within the shielded pool (z-to-z transactions). Another important feature is view keys, which allow users to selectively disclose transaction details to auditors, regulators, or compliance departments. This capability has become increasingly relevant as institutions explore privacy-preserving financial infrastructure.
Equihash Mining Algorithm Explained
Zcash uses a mining algorithm called Equihash, which differs significantly from Bitcoin’s SHA-256 algorithm. Equihash was designed to be memory-hard, meaning it requires large amounts of RAM during the computation process. This design initially aimed to reduce the advantage of specialized mining hardware and make mining more accessible.
Equihash ASIC Manufacturers and Market Structure
Just like in Bitcoin mining, ASIC hardware specifically designed for Equihash have been developed, making GPU mining largely unprofitable on the network. The hardware ecosystem for Equihash mining, is dominated by a small number of ASIC manufacturers. The Equihash ASIC market has historically been very concentrated.
Bitmain is widely considered the dominant manufacturer, with an estimated 60–70% market share. Its Antminer Z-series machines, including the Z9, Z11, Z15, and Z15 Pro, have become the industry standard and significantly increased Zcash network hashrate after their release.
The second major player is Innosilicon, estimated to hold 20–30% of the market. Its A9 ZMaster series helped transition Zcash mining from GPUs to dedicated ASIC hardware.
Among Equihash ASIC miners, only the Antminer Z15 Pro approaches the power density of modern air-cooled Bitcoin ASICs. This makes it significantly easier for operators to integrate the latest Zcash mining hardware into facilities already designed for Bitcoin mining fleets, as the electrical, cooling, and rack infrastructure requirements are more comparable than the other models available.
Overall, the Equihash ASIC market remains relatively small and concentrated, meaning new hardware releases can have a meaningful impact on network hashrate and mining economics.
Zcash Mining Economics
Zcash secures its network through a proof-of-work mining system, similar to Bitcoin. Miners compete to solve cryptographic puzzles, and the first to find a valid solution adds the next block to the blockchain.
Just like the Bitcoin protocol, miners earn revenue from two sources: newly issued coins and transaction fees included in the block. Transaction fees are paid by users submitting transactions to the network and are collected by the miner who successfully mines the block.
Key network parameters:
Block time: ~75 seconds
Block reward: 1.5625 ZEC
Maximum supply: 21 million ZEC
Zcash also includes a development fund mechanism. Of each block reward 80% goes to miners and 20% is allocated to development funding. These funds support the Electric Coin Company, the Zcash Foundation, and community grants, ensuring continuous protocol development and ecosystem growth.
Zcash Halving Schedule
Zcash follows a halving schedule similar to Bitcoin, designed to gradually reduce new coin issuance and maintain long-term scarcity. The key difference lies in the block time. Zcash produces blocks roughly every 75 seconds, compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This faster block production was introduced with the Blossom upgrade in December 2019 (block height 653,600), a major network upgrade aimed at improving scalability. Before Blossom, Zcash blocks were produced roughly every 150 seconds.
The upgrade doubled the block frequency to increase transaction throughput. To maintain the same long-term issuance schedule despite the faster block production, the block reward was simultaneously reduced from 12.5 ZEC to 6.25 ZEC. This change was not a traditional halving but an issuance adjustment to keep total supply emission unchanged. As a result of the faster block time, Zcash halvings occur every 840,000 blocks, while Bitcoin halves every 210,000 blocks, both translating to roughly four-year cycles. Like Bitcoin, Zcash has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins.
Zcash Network Hashrate Developments
Zcash has experienced notable changes in network activity over the past year. The network hashrate more than doubled, increasing from roughly ~6.5 GH/s in mid-2025 to over 14 GH/s in early 2026
This growth reflects renewed interest in privacy-focused digital assets as well as improving economics for ZEC mining. At the same time, Zcash’s price saw substantial volatility, rising dramatically during 2025 before retracing.
Despite this growth, mining activity remains relatively concentrated among a small number of pools, leaving room for new entrants to diversify the network’s hashpower distribution.
Premium readers get the full analysis of Foundry’s Zcash strategy, the current hashrate concentration, and the institutional opportunity emerging around privacy-focused proof-of-work networks.
