Foundry Launches Zcash Mining Pool, Reaches 30% Network Hashrate

Foundry Digital, operator of the world's largest Bitcoin mining pool with 29% of network production, officially launched its Foundry Zcash Pool on Monday, quickly capturing approximately 30% of the Zcash network's hashrate with multiple institutional customers already onboarded. The expansion into Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in 2016 using zero-knowledge proof technology, includes the unveiling of Zcashinfo.com, a new block explorer for ecosystem data and mining statistics. The move comes as ZEC has experienced significant volatility, spiking from $50 to nearly $700 last fall before declining with broader crypto markets, though it recently jumped 73% over the past month to $354. Despite the recent rally, prediction market traders on Myriad currently assign only 23% odds that Zcash will reach $420 in April, down from 63% on Friday.

Foundry's Zcash Mining Pool Launch and Market Capture

• ▪Foundry USA Pool commands around 29% of all Bitcoin production among mining pools.
• ▪Foundry Digital operates the world's largest Bitcoin mining pool.
• ▪Foundry Digital officially launched its Foundry Zcash Pool on Monday.
• ▪Foundry Zcash Pool had multiple institutional mining customers already onboarded at launch.
• ▪Foundry Zcash Pool captured about 29% of the Zcash network's hashrate since its March announcement.

Infrastructure Development and Institutional Support

• ▪Zooko Wilcox is the chief product officer of Shielded Labs.

Zcash Price Volatility and Market Performance

• ▪ZEC rose nearly 42% in the last seven days alone.
• ▪Traders on Myriad currently pencil in just a 23% chance that Zcash rises to $420 sometime in April.
• ▪Over the last month, ZEC jumped 73% to a recent price of $354.
• ▪Zcash spiked in value last fall, rising from about $50 per coin to nearly $700 within a two-month window.
• ▪Traders on Myriad assigned 63% odds on Friday that Zcash would rise to $420 sometime in April.
• ▪Zcash was launched in 2016 as a privacy-focused cryptocurrency built on zero-knowledge proof technology.

Perspective of Foundry Digital

• ▪Foundry Digital's entry into Zcash mining demonstrates institutional interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin.

Perspective of Zcash miners

• ▪Foundry Zcash Pool's rapid capture of 30% network hashrate raises centralization concerns among decentralization advocates in the Zcash community.

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