Question 1

What's the latest ZEC news?

Accepted Answer

### Top Story Bitget hackers have transferred $4 million into Zcash's private pool, making the stolen funds more difficult to trace due to Zcash’s privacy features[^[1]](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/30/bitget-hackers-move-usd4-million-into-zcash-s-private-pool-making-funds-harder-to-trace). This incident highlights ongoing security challenges and may influence perceptions of Zcash's privacy technology among regulators and exchanges. ### Other Highlights - Gemini, owned by the Winklevoss twins, is updating its Zcash software in preparation for a network upgrade that will enable faster 25-second block times[^[2]](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/09/30/winklevoss-owned-gemini-switches-zcash-software-ahead-of-faster-25-second-blocks). - Zcash (ZEC) saw a 12% daily price drop, raising questions about whether this is a normal correction or a signal of a deeper downturn. - AI-driven predictions have spotlighted Zcash as a potential cryptocurrency to watch in October. ### Market Context Zcash gained 5.42% over the past 24 hours, outperforming the CoinDesk 20 index, which rose 1.13%. This performance comes amid broader crypto volatility, with Bitcoin briefly returning to $84,000 before giving up early gains[^[5]](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/30/live-updates-bitcoin-below-usd84-000-ahead-of-pce-inflation-data-micron-earnings). The surge in ZEC may be partly driven by renewed attention from both technical developments and high-profile incidents involving its privacy features. ### What’s Next? With a major hack exploiting Zcash's privacy tools and an upcoming protocol upgrade, stakeholders will be watching how exchanges, regulators, and the community respond. Will increased scrutiny or technological improvements shape Zcash’s trajectory in the coming weeks?

Question 2

What is Zcash (ZEC)?

Accepted Answer

ZEC is the coin used on the Zcash blockchain. “Zcash” refers to the protocol and network rules, while “ZEC” is the monetary unit that users hold and transfer. Zcash’s monetary policy targets a fixed supply of 21 million ZEC.

Zcash is a cryptocurrency network that supports both transparent transactions and shielded transactions. Shielded transactions use zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) so the network can validate a transaction without publishing the sender, recipient and amount on-chain.

Zcash uses proof of work for consensus and is specified in the Zcash Protocol Specification. The proof-of-work algorithm is Equihash.

Question 3

What is Zcash (ZEC) used for?

Accepted Answer

ZEC is used to transfer value on the Zcash network. Users can send ZEC using transparent transfers (t-addresses), where amounts are visible on-chain, or shielded transfers (z-addresses), where key transaction details are encrypted but still verifiable by the network.

ZEC is also used to pay transaction fees. Fees are paid by the sender and are collected by miners when transactions are included in blocks.

Because Zcash uses proof of work, newly issued ZEC is distributed through the block subsidy paid in each mined block. Since the 2024 halving, the protocol has also allocated a portion of block rewards to development funding streams defined by network upgrades and ZIPs.

Question 4

How privacy works in Zcash (addresses, pools, Halo, disclosures)

Accepted Answer

Zcash keeps a transparent pool (public) and shielded pools (encrypted). Shielded pools hold encrypted notes, while the transparent pool uses publicly visible amounts. Zcash has had multiple shielded pools over time, including Sprout (legacy), Sapling and Orchard. Transactions can move value within a pool or between pools depending on the inputs and outputs used.

Network Upgrade 5 (NU5) enabled full support for the Orchard shielded protocol and moved Zcash to the Halo proving system. NU5 removed the need for the trusted setup used by earlier Zcash proving systems.

Zcash defines Unified Addresses (UAs), which bundle multiple receiver types (for example transparent, Sapling and Orchard) into a single address encoding. This lets wallets choose a compatible receiver when constructing a transaction, without changing what any given service chooses to accept. Unified Viewing Keys extend the same idea to viewing permissions across receiver types.

For selective disclosure, Zcash supports viewing keys, which separate spending authority from the ability to view shielded address activity. This is documented in ZIP 310.

Zcash also specifies payment disclosures (ZIP 311), which allow a sender to disclose information about shielded spends and outputs within a transaction as a proof of payment, without sharing spending keys.

Question 5

Issuance, halvings and block subsidy allocation

Accepted Answer

New ZEC enters circulation through the block subsidy when miners produce blocks. Zcash targets a block interval of roughly 75 seconds. The block subsidy reduces over time according to consensus rules, with “halvings” as scheduled reductions in issuance.

Network Upgrade 6 (NU6) activated at block height 2,726,400 around 23 November 2024. From that activation, the protocol-defined block subsidy was allocated as follows:

* **80%** to **miners**
* **8%** to **Zcash Community Grants (ZCG)**
* **12%** to an in-protocol **lockbox** (a pool tracked by consensus rules)

ZIP 1015 defines the lockbox as a deferred funding pool, but it does not define how the accumulated funds are disbursed. It states that the disbursement mechanism will be specified in a future ZIP.

Network Upgrade 6.1 (NU6.1) activated at block height 3,146,400 on 24 November 2025. NU6.1 instituted a funding model where:

* **8%** of block rewards continue to be allocated to **ZCG**
* **12%** of block rewards accrue to a **coinholder-controlled fund**, seeded by the deferred lockbox

Question 6

Governance and the ZIP process

Accepted Answer

Changes to the Zcash protocol are proposed and specified using Zcash Improvement Proposals (ZIPs). ZIPs can define consensus changes, wallet standards and process changes and are published in the public ZIP repository.

ZIP 0 describes the ZIP process. It states that anyone can write a ZIP and that the ZIP’s author is responsible for building community consensus and documenting dissenting views. ZIP Editors manage review and publication within the process.

Consensus changes are delivered through scheduled Network Upgrades that activate at defined block heights. Nodes must upgrade their software to follow the updated consensus rules after activation.

Question 7

Node software and network upgrades (zcashd, Zebra, upgrade cadence)

Accepted Answer

Zcash is run by full nodes that enforce consensus rules and relay transactions and blocks. The long-running reference implementation is **zcashd**, but support for zcashd is being deprecated, with full nodes migrating to **zebrad** (Zebra) and **Zallet** being built as a replacement for the zcashd wallet and parts of its JSON-RPC interface.

**Zebra** is a separate full node implementation written in Rust and maintained by the Zcash Foundation.

Protocol changes are delivered through Network Upgrades that activate at defined block heights. Examples include:

* **NU5**, which enabled Orchard, Unified Addresses and the Halo proving system
* **NU6**, which updated block reward allocations and introduced the lockbox funding stream
* **NU6.1**, which introduced the community and coinholder funding model

Deployment ZIPs describe upgrade mechanics and node compatibility around activation.

Question 8

Integration with exchanges and selective disclosure

Accepted Answer

Support for Zcash address types varies across custodial services. Some services only accept transparent deposits or only support transparent withdrawals, which can require users to move ZEC from a shielded balance into the transparent pool before sending funds to that service.

To help wallets and services express “transparent-source only” requirements, ZIP 320 defines a new encoding for transparent addresses, often referred to as TEX addresses. When paying to a TEX-encoded address, wallets must ensure that no shielded notes are spent in that transaction, so the funds originate from the transparent pool. A related RPC method, `z_converttex`, converts a transparent address into a ZIP 320 (TEX) address.

For address compatibility, Unified Addresses (ZIP 316) bundle multiple receiver types into one address string (for example transparent, Sapling and Orchard receivers). This can reduce the need for users to manage multiple address formats, but it does not override what a given service chooses to accept.

For audit-style workflows without handing over spending rights, Zcash supports viewing keys (ZIP 310), which provide read access to shielded address activity without granting authority to spend funds. Zcash also specifies payment disclosures (ZIP 311), which allow the sender of a transaction to disclose information about shielded outputs within that transaction as a proof of payment.

Question 9

Who created Zcash (ZEC)?

Accepted Answer

Zcash’s privacy design builds on academic cryptography research including the Zerocash protocol described in a 2014 paper by Eli Ben-Sasson, Alessandro Chiesa, Christina Garman, Matthew Green, Ian Miers, Eran Tromer and Madars Virza.

Electric Coin Co. was formed in 2015 and created and launched Zcash on mainnet in October 2016, with Zooko Wilcox involved in leading the project’s early implementation and launch.

The Zcash Foundation was formed in 2017 as an independent non-profit organisation to support Zcash and related infrastructure.

#	Instrument	Exchange	Benchmark Score	Price	24h Change	24h Volume	24h Trades	24h Open	24h High
1	ZEC-USDT ZECUSDT	binance	AA	1,226.64USDT	10.83%	186,618.48ZEC	697,625	1,106.79USDT	1,254.05USDT
2	ZEC-USD ZEC-USD	coinbase	AA	1,225.00USD	10.78%	128,923.50ZEC	181,147	1,105.82USD	1,252.70USD
3	ZEC-USDC ZECUSDC	binance	AA	1,225.05USDC	10.82%	131,269.73ZEC	1,964,593	1,105.46USDC	1,252.88USDC
4	ZEC-USDT ZECUSDT_SPBL	bitget	BB	1,226.39USDT	10.83%	71,613.54ZEC	150,391	1,106.56USDT	1,254.20USDT
5	ZEC-USDT ZEC-USDT	okex	A	1,225.68USDT	10.73%	58,963.90ZEC	125,776	1,106.88USDT	1,253.96USDT
6	ZEC-USD XZECZUSD	kraken	AA	1,224.21USD	10.85%	27,243.62ZEC	26,140	1,104.42USD	1,251.86USD
7	ZEC-USDT ZEC-USDT	kucoin	BB	1,226.27USDT	10.77%	24,027.58ZEC	101,160	1,107.01USDT	1,253.76USDT
8	ZEC-USDT ZEC_USDT	gateio	A	1,226.49USDT	10.81%	17,410.18ZEC	85,372	1,106.82USDT	1,254.49USDT
9	ZEC-USDT ZEC_USDT	whitebit	BB	1,225.82USDT	10.82%	16,240.71ZEC	70,833	1,106.12USDT	1,254.14USDT
10	ZEC-EUR XZECZEUR	kraken	AA	1,089.93EUR	10.35%	3,482.74ZEC	7,077	987.73EUR	1,116.99EUR
11	ZEC-USDC ZEC-USDC	okex	A	1,224.23USDC	10.74%	3,116.45ZEC	21,660	1,105.46USDC	1,252.47USDC
12	ZEC-USD zecusd	gemini	A	1,224.94USD	10.62%	2,521.33ZEC	6,439	1,107.38USD	1,250.65USD
13	ZEC-USD zecusd	bitstamp	AA	1,227.53USD	10.83%	1,082.73ZEC	933	1,107.54USD	1,251.75USD
14	ZEC-BTC ZECBTC	binance	AA	0.01492BTC	9.91%	974.61ZEC	5,457	0.01357BTC	0.01522BTC
15	ZEC-USDC ZEC_USDC	whitebit	BB	1,225.22USDC	10.80%	692.46ZEC	1,567	1,105.82USDC	1,250.95USDC
16	ZEC-USD ZECUSD	bitfinex	BB	1,212.90USD	10.69%	311.88ZEC	1,711	1,095.80USD	1,240.50USD
17	ZEC-EUR ZEC-EUR	okex	A	1,089.06EUR	10.14%	239.12ZEC	5,056	988.79EUR	1,115.85EUR
18	ZEC-BTC ZEC-BTC	kucoin	BB	0.01492BTC	9.72%	233.69ZEC	2,345	0.01360BTC	0.01520BTC
19	ZEC-U ZECU	binance	AA	1,225.36U	10.72%	203.56ZEC	1,407	1,106.67U	1,249.87U
20	ZEC-ETH ZECETH	binance	AA	0.4991ETH	7.11%	166.82ZEC	2,466	0.4659ETH	0.5096ETH
21	ZEC-BTC ZEC_BTC	whitebit	BB	0.01498BTC	11.59%	60.75ZEC	106	0.01342BTC	0.01517BTC
22	ZEC-USD1 ZECUSD1	binance	AA	1,226.62USD1	11.86%	28.36ZEC	124	1,096.58USD1	1,240.87USD1
23	ZEC-BTC ZECBTC	bitfinex	BB	0.01472BTC	9.74%	11.10ZEC	151	0.01341BTC	0.01502BTC
24	ZEC-BTC zec_btc	yobit	-	0.01499BTC	9.96%	57,228.23ZEC	516	0.01363BTC	0.01515BTC
25	ZEC-USDT ZEC_USDT	poloniex	C	1,220.47USDT	10.51%	54,054.07ZEC	91,056	1,104.40USDT	1,242.45USDT
26	ZEC-USDT ZECUSDT	toobit	C	1,226.50USDT	10.82%	47,075.90ZEC	94,911	1,106.70USDT	1,253.73USDT
27	ZEC-USDT zec_usdt	xtpub	-	1,226.02USDT	10.78%	36,362.63ZEC	16,646	1,106.70USDT	1,253.38USDT
28	ZEC-USDT ZECUSDT	bitrue	D	1,227.20USDT	10.85%	11,175.51ZEC	170,726	1,107.06USDT	1,253.71USDT
29	ZEC-USDC zec_usdc	xtpub	-	1,224.11USDC	10.73%	11,628.07ZEC	18,717	1,105.46USDC	1,252.55USDC
30	ZEC-USDT sZECUSDT	phemex	C	1,225.24USDT	10.80%	7,941.13ZEC	5,698	1,105.83USDT	1,252.54USDT
31	ZEC-USDC ZEC_USDC	p2pb2b	D	1,225.18USDC	10.83%	7,362.20ZEC	387,215	1,105.46USDC	1,252.77USDC
32	ZEC-USDT ZECUSDT	mexc	C	1,225.30USDT	10.78%	4,789.26ZEC	14,778	1,106.07USDT	1,252.50USDT
33	ZEC-USDT zec_usdt	digifinex	D	1,226.28USDT	10.75%	3,937.46ZEC	6,812	1,107.23USDT	1,251.25USDT
34	ZEC-USDC ZECUSDC	bitrue	D	1,225.05USDC	10.79%	3,875.08ZEC	4,343	1,105.74USDC	1,252.16USDC
35	ZEC-USDT ZEC_USDT	coinw	-	1,224.82USDT	10.82%	3,254.62ZEC	14,135	1,105.20USDT	1,252.21USDT
36	ZEC-EUR ZECEUR	bit2me	B	1,089.93EUR	10.35%	3,202.54ZEC	6,735	987.73EUR	1,116.99EUR
37	ZEC-USDT ZEC_USDT	p2pb2b	D	1,226.10USDT	10.76%	2,625.63ZEC	63,927	1,106.99USDT	1,254.04USDT
38	ZEC-USDT ZECUSDT	binanceusa	B	1,225.64USDT	10.46%	2,015.02ZEC	20,906	1,109.60USDT	1,253.88USDT
39	ZEC-USDT zecusdt	huobipro	C	1,226.20USDT	10.73%	1,665.43ZEC	30,575	1,107.37USDT	1,253.00USDT
40	ZEC-USD ZECUSD	edxmarkets	C	1,226.24USD	11.07%	1,375.18ZEC	1,107	1,104.00USD	1,250.06USD
41	ZEC-USDC ZEC_USDC	backpack	C	1,226.68USDC	10.89%	839.58ZEC	2,445	1,106.19USDC	1,248.13USDC
42	ZEC-USDT ZEC-USDT	bigone	-	1,225.35USDT	10.57%	789.90ZEC	5,376	1,108.22USDT	1,253.94USDT
43	ZEC-USDT ZEC_USDT	bydfi	-	1,226.44USDT	10.88%	661.89ZEC	5,544	1,106.07USDT	1,252.35USDT
44	ZEC-BTC ZEC_BTC	p2pb2b	D	0.01490BTC	9.78%	214.37ZEC	2,323	0.01357BTC	0.01522BTC
45	ZEC-INR ZECINR	coindcx	-	123,669.90INR	11.08%	147.07ZEC	3,587	111,337.90INR	125,853.20INR
46	ZEC-BTC zec_btc	xtpub	-	0.01491BTC	9.86%	131.70ZEC	2,066	0.01357BTC	0.01522BTC
47	ZEC-ETH zec_eth	xtpub	-	0.4999ETH	7.30%	96.45ZEC	1,260	0.4659ETH	0.5096ETH
48	ZEC-USDC ZECUSDC	mexc	C	1,224.99USDC	10.84%	65.81ZEC	3,552	1,105.15USDC	1,251.31USDC
49	ZEC-USD1 ZECUSD1	mexc	C	1,231.18USD1	11.32%	47.68ZEC	3,012	1,105.96USD1	1,249.10USD1
50	ZEC-BRL ZEC-BRL	mercadobtc	C	6,211.90BRL	11.87%	22.26ZEC	163	5,552.90BRL	6,399.80BRL