Zcash $ZEC is a cryptocurrency launched on October 28, 2016, created by the Electric Coin Company (ECC) of Zooko Wilcox as a fork of Bitcoin $BTC focused on optional privacy. It uses zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to enable "shielded" transactions that hide the sender, receiver, and amount.
The Ceremony and Edward Snowden
To securely generate the initial cryptographic parameters, a "Ceremony" was held in 2016. Six participants from around the world generated fragments of a key and destroyed the resulting "toxic waste." In April 2022, it was revealed that one of the participants, under the pseudonym "John Dobbertin," was Edward Snowden, who supported the project due to his need for financial privacy against surveillance.
Technological Updates and Their Impact
Zcash has continuously improved its protocol:
Sapling (2018): Significantly improved the efficiency of shielded transactions.
Halo 2 (2022): Eliminated the need for future "trusted setups", increasing the protocol's security and auditability.
Events That Affected the Price
Several factors have influenced the value of ZEC:
November 2025 Halving: The halving of the block reward caused a rise of over 700% in the price in the following months.
Naval Ravikant's Tweet (October 2025): His statement "ZCash is an insurance against Bitcoin" reignited speculative and institutional interest, driving the price upward.
Institutional Interest: The creation of the Grayscale Zcash Trust and strategic purchases by companies such as Cypherpunk supported long-term growth.
Trump Announcement: After Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese products, triggering a massive $20 billion liquidation across the global crypto market, the ZEC price plummeted 45%, falling to a low of approximately $150 USD, although it recovered within the next 24 hours.
Regulatory Pressure: Concerns over the regulation of privacy coins have led to delistings on some exchanges, generating uncertainty and temporary price drops.
Current Events
Currently, Zcash is going through a governance crisis. On January 7, 2026, the entire ECC development team resigned due to conflicts with the Bootstrap board. The departing team announced the creation of the independent project cashZ to continue Zcash's privacy vision outside the Bootstrap structure.
Following this news, the ZEC price experienced an initial drop of over 20%. The network remains operational, but there is uncertainty about the future direction of its main development.