Zcash

ZEC Price

About Zcash (ZEC)

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses advanced trustless zero-knowledge proofs to enable fully encrypted transactions while maintaining blockchain transparency and security.

• First cryptocurrency to implement zero-knowledge encryption for private peer-to-peer payments.

• Maintains a fixed supply of 21 million ZEC with a halving schedule similar to Bitcoin.

• Operates as a decentralized protocol where users maintain full control over their funds.

What Is Zcash

Zcash addresses the fundamental privacy gap in traditional cryptocurrencies by providing end-to-end encryption for digital transactions. While most cryptocurrencies expose transaction details publicly on the blockchain, Zcash enables users to prove transactions are valid without revealing sensitive information like wallet balances, transaction amounts, or participant identities.

 This privacy protection makes Zcash suitable for everyday payments and long-term savings where financial confidentiality is important, while still maintaining the decentralized and permissionless nature of cryptocurrency.

Key Differentiators of Zcash

• Trustless Privacy: Zcash's privacy technology is 'trustless.' This just means its security is guaranteed by math alone, so users don't have to trust a founding team or any central group for it to work.

• Optional Privacy: Users can choose between transparent (public) and shielded (private) transactions, providing flexibility based on their privacy needs.

• Self-Funded Development Model: A portion of block rewards is allocated to fund ecosystem development through the Zcash Community Grants Committee and a new Coinholder-Controlled Fund.

• Faster and Cheaper Than Bitcoin: New blocks are mined every 75 seconds with transaction fees typically only a fraction of a cent.

• Bitcoin-Like Monetary Policy: Fixed 21 million coin supply with halvings every four years, providing predictable inflation.

What Can You Use Zcash for?

• Private Payments: Send and receive payments with full transaction confidentiality.

• Store of Value: Hold ZEC as a long-term savings vehicle with privacy protection.

• Cross-Border Money Transfers: Facilitate fast, low-cost international value transfers with privacy features.

• Financial Privacy: Protect sensitive financial information while transacting on a public blockchain.

• Demonstrated Private Savings: While privacy has always been optional, 2025 has seen a massive surge in adoption as users seek a hedge against financial surveillance. The amount of ZEC held in private, encrypted pools has hit an all-time high, with over 30% of the total ZEC supply (over 4.9 million ZEC) now fully shielded.

How Does Zcash Work?

Zcash currently operates on its own blockchain using a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. However, the protocol is in the process of a major evolution to Proof of Stake (PoS). This planned upgrade, often referred to as "Crosslink," aims to introduce a PoS layer that runs alongside the PoW chain to enhance security, scalability, and reduce the network's energy footprint.

The protocol employs trustless zero-knowledge proofs (Halo) to enable private transactions within its Orchard shielded pool. When a user sends shielded ZEC, the network can verify the transaction is legitimate without revealing the sender, receiver, or amount. The introduction of Unified Addresses (UAs) has simplified this, allowing a user to have a single address that is compatible with both transparent and private pools.

Team Info

Zcash was created by a group of scientists who came together in 2013 to solve Bitcoin's privacy limitations. They initially proposed Zerocoin as a privacy extension to Bitcoin before pivoting to build a standalone protocol. The Zerocoin Electric Coin Company (now Electric Coin Co. or ECC) was formed in 2015 to develop the protocol, and Zcash launched in October 2016.

The Zcash Foundation was established in 2017 to provide additional support, and in 2020, the Zcash Community Grants (ZCG) organization launched to fund developers. The ecosystem now operates with a decentralized model of independent teams funded by the protocol itself.

Where can you buy Zcash?

ZEC tokens can be traded on centralized crypto exchanges. The most popular exchange to buy and trade Zcash is Binance, where the most active trading pair ZEC/USDT has a trading volume of $568,973,571.03 in the last 24 hours. Other popular options include Coinbase Exchange and Toobit.

What is the daily trading volume of Zcash (ZEC)?

The trading volume of Zcash (ZEC) is $1,831,480,067.77 in the last 24 hours, representing a 35.10% increase from one day ago and signalling a recent rise in market activity. Check out CoinGecko’s list of highest volume cryptocurrencies.

What is the highest and lowest price for Zcash (ZEC)?

Zcash (ZEC) reached an all-time high of $3,191.93 and an all-time low of $16.08. It’s now trading -49.30% below that peak and 9,965.40% above its lowest price.

What is the market cap of Zcash (ZEC)?

Market capitalization of Zcash (ZEC) is $27,427,260,453 and is ranked #9 on CoinGecko today. Market cap is measured by multiplying token price with the circulating supply of ZEC tokens (17 Million tokens are tradable on the market today).

What is the fully diluted valuation of Zcash (ZEC)?

The fully diluted valuation (FDV) of Zcash (ZEC) is $27,431,289,237. This is a statistical representation of the maximum market cap, assuming the maximum number of 21 Million ZEC tokens are in circulation today. Depending on how the emission schedule of ZEC tokens are designed, it might take multiple years before FDV is realized.

How does the price performance of Zcash compare against its peers?

With a price increase of 40.80% in the last 7 days, Zcash (ZEC) is outperforming the global cryptocurrency market which is up 14.80%, while outperforming when compared to similar Smart Contract Platform cryptocurrencies which are up 15.60%.