Zcash news

A critical vulnerability in Zcash nodes that could have allowed malicious miners to drain over 25,000 ZEC (worth about $6.5 million) from the deprecated Sprout shielded pool has been patched. The bug, discovered by security researcher Alex "Scalar" Sol on March 23, skipped proof verification for transactions involving the legacy pool, but was not exploited and all user funds remain safe. Zcash developers released version 6.12.0 on Tuesday to fix the vulnerability, which affected releases from July 2020 onward. Major mining pools like Luxor, F2Pool, ViaBTC, and AntPool deployed the patch within days. The Zebra full node implementation was unaffected and would have triggered a chain fork if exploitation was attempted, providing additional protection. Sol received a 200 ZEC bounty (over $51,000) for the disclosure. While the vulnerability could have drained funds from the Sprout pool, Zcash's "turnstile" mechanism would have prevented broader supply inflation by requiring verifiable entry for any coins leaving the pool. This follows a 2019 patch for a similar "infinite counterfeit" bug in the network.

In March, the Zcash network hit all‑time highs in hashrate and shielded supply. Hashrate rose to 16.54 GS/s, indicating stronger miner participation. The shielded pool grew to 5.15 million ZEC, about 31 % of circulating supply, showing increased use of its privacy feature. Community sentiment turned positive, with LunarCrush reporting 88 % positivity and ZEC price up 13.7 % to $258‑$268, a 40 % monthly gain. Momentum is backed by Foundry Digital’s plan for an institutional‑grade Zcash mining pool and a $25 million seed round for Zcash Open Development Lab from a16z, Paradigm and others. Analysts speculate price could reach $400 if trends continue.

Foundry Digital, operator of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool, announced it will launch an institutional‑grade Zcash mining pool in April 2026, offering a compliant, transparent infrastructure aimed at institutional and publicly listed companies. The pool is expected to increase ZEC network security and attract capital, with Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox saying it could spread hashpower and draw new miners, while regulatory scrutiny makes compliant pools a potential bridge for institutional adoption.

Foundry Digital will launch a compliance‑focused Zcash mining pool in April 2026, based in the United States and built on the infrastructure of its Foundry USA Bitcoin pool. The service targets institutional and publicly traded miners, offering reporting tools and payout systems designed to meet compliance requirements. The initiative follows heightened interest in Zcash, whose price rose nearly 600 % in 2025 before falling to about $212. Recent $25 million funding for a Zcash privacy wallet and comments from industry figures have boosted attention, though mining remains concentrated among pools such as ViaBTC and F2Pool.

Foundry Digital, a DCG subsidiary, announced it will launch an institutional‑focused Zcash mining pool in April 2026. The pool will target institutional miners and public companies with compliance tools, reporting features and U.S.‑based operations, expanding the firm’s dominant bitcoin‑mining presence.

Foundry Digital, a major Bitcoin mining pool, will launch a U.S.-based institutional Zcash mining pool next month, offering compliance‑focused services such as KYC, AML, reporting and SOC‑audited operations. The move addresses a gap in compliant Zcash infrastructure as privacy coins gain interest; ZEC has outperformed other privacy assets, and Foundry sees opportunity beyond Bitcoin margins, though it remains focused on Bitcoin and Zcash for now.

Zcash (ZEC) has risen about 7% as the Zcash Open Development Lab secured new funding, pushing the price toward the upper boundary of a descending channel that has held since December. The coin remains down roughly 56% year‑to‑date but still shows a 600% gain on a year‑over‑year basis. Technical signals show a bullish RSI divergence and accelerating whale buying on Solana, with holdings up 167% and exchange balances down 46%, while derivatives open interest stays low. Breaking above $227 could open a path to the $250 zone; a drop below $211 would threaten the recovery.

Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), formed after the Electric Coin Company team split from Bootstrap in early 2026, announced a $25 million private venture round. Investors included Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures and several individual angels. The capital will fund engineering expansion and further development of the Zash/i wallet, now rebranded Zodl, which has driven a 400% increase in shielded ZEC supply since 2024. Following the announcement, ZEC jumped 10.9% in 24 hours, becoming one of the day’s top gainers on CoinGecko and outpacing Bitcoin in the broader market recovery. While the rally is notable, it remains modest against a 57% year‑to‑date decline, and analysts note that sustained price support will depend on continued developer momentum and market conditions.

The Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), formed by former Electric Coin Company staff led by ex‑CEO Josh Swihart, announced a $25 million funding round backed by a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, Winklevoss Capital, Cypherpunk Technologies, Maelstrom, Chapter One and individual investors such as Balaji Srinivasan, David Friedberg and Haseeb Qureshi. ZODL will use the capital to grow its engineering team and further develop the open‑source Zodl wallet, the primary interface for the Zcash ecosystem that has processed over $600 million in ZEC swaps since October 2025 and helped expand the protocol’s shielded pool by more than 400 %; the news lifted ZEC price about 4 % to $218.

Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), formed after the Electric Coin Company staff left following a board dispute, announced a $25 million seed round backed by investors including Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures and others. ZODL maintains the open‑source Zodl wallet (formerly Zashi) and holds its IP. The wallet has processed over $600 million in ZEC swaps since October and boosted the Zcash shielded pool supply by more than 400%, keeping it at a record 23% of total supply. The funding will support hiring and further Zcash protocol development.