What is Zcash (ZEC)?
Zcash launched on 28 October 2016 as a privacy-focused cryptocurrency derived from Bitcoin's codebase. It was developed by the Electric Coin Company, led by Zooko Wilcox, building on academic research into zero-knowledge proofs.
- Type
- Privacy cryptocurrency
- Launched
- 2016
- Consensus
- Proof of Work (Equihash)
- Max supply
- 21 million ZEC
- Swap network
- Zcash
- Sector (Messari)
- Cryptocurrency
How Zcash works
ZEC is mined with Equihash proof of work and follows a Bitcoin-like halving schedule. Its distinguishing feature is optional shielded transactions, which use zk-SNARKs to hide sender, receiver and amount while still proving validity. Transparent addresses beginning with t work like Bitcoin's public ledger, while shielded and unified addresses keep details private.
What ZEC is used for
People use ZEC as a digital cash that can be sent either publicly or with strong on-chain privacy. It is also held and traded as a long-running store-of-value asset in the privacy category.
ZEC supply
Total issuance is capped at 21 million ZEC, released through block rewards that halve roughly every four years; the most recent halving came in November 2024.
Before you swap ZEC
Zcash has both transparent (t-) and shielded (z- or u-) addresses, and many services only handle transparent ones, so check which address type the widget shows and accepts before sending or entering a withdrawal address.