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Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable shielded transactions

Zcash can run transactions in transparent mode or private mode using zk-SNARKs, and coins are fungible when fully shielded.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Altcoins

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that lets users hide key details of transactions, including the sender, recipient, and amount, while still keeping transfers verifiable by the network. According to Decrypt, it does this by using zero-knowledge proofs known as zk-SNARKs.

Like Bitcoin, Zcash uses a proof-of-work consensus model, but it supports transactions that can be either transparent or shielded. The network maintains two address pools, transparent (t-addrs) and shielded (z-addrs), and Decrypt notes that Zcash is designed to make fully shielded coins fungible by breaking the link to prior transaction history.

Zcash launched in October 2016, developed by Electric Coin Company, which was led by Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn and built on research from institutions including Johns Hopkins, MIT, and Tel Aviv University. Decrypt also highlights that Zcash has a maximum supply of 21 million coins and block reward halvings every four years.

After a vulnerability disclosure involving its Orchard shielded pool, Zcash implemented the Ironwood upgrade in July 2026 to transition to a new private pool. Decrypt adds that while Electric Coin Company initiated Zcash, it does not own or control the blockchain, and upgrades require community approval.

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