On April 13, 2026, Foundry, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool operator, officially announced the launch of a new mining pool dedicated to the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash. Based in upstate New York, Foundry has focused on Bitcoin mining pool operations since its founding in 2019 and now controls about 31% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, making it an undisputed infrastructure leader in the industry. By making Zcash its second mining pool business, Foundry is extending its reach into the privacy coin sector for the first time, drawing widespread industry attention.
Foundry CEO Mike Colyer stated that this move is a direct response to the growing demand for privacy coins from large institutions. The company expects institutional miners—including several publicly traded companies—to allocate part of their hash power to Zcash mining. This prediction has already been validated: since the mining pool’s pre-launch announcement in March 2026, several institutional miners have quickly joined, and the pool now accounts for nearly one-third of Zcash’s newly mined supply.
At the same time, Foundry launched the Zcash block explorer Zcashinfo.com, providing real-time data on pools, blocks, hash rate, and network difficulty. This supporting infrastructure further demonstrates Foundry’s commitment to long-term investment in the Zcash ecosystem.
Market reaction has been strong. Since Foundry’s March announcement, Zcash’s price has surged over 75%, far outpacing the overall crypto market’s approximate 7% gain during the same period. The privacy coin sector, led by Zcash, has seen a systemic rebound: DASH jumped over 50% in a single week, marking the strongest capital inflow into privacy coins since 2021.
A Strategy Six Months in the Making
Foundry’s entry into Zcash is not an isolated event, but a reflection of a broader recovery in the privacy coin sector. Mapping out the timeline reveals this event as the convergence of several narratives in the spring of 2026:
January 2026: Regulatory Overhang Lifted. The US SEC formally ended its two-year investigation into the Zcash Foundation, closing the case with zero charges. This outcome removed a key regulatory cloud hanging over Zcash since August 2023, clearing a major obstacle for institutional capital.
January 2026: Top-Tier Capital Backs Privacy Sector. The original Zcash core development team spun off to create the Zcash Open Development Lab, securing $25 million in seed funding from investors such as a16z Crypto and Coinbase Ventures. The new lab focuses on Zodl wallet development and ecosystem expansion.
March 2026: Foundry Teases Zcash Mining Pool. After the announcement, Zcash’s price began to climb sharply, as the market responded positively to the signal of "institutional-grade infrastructure entering the sector."
Early April 2026: On-Chain Whales Accumulate. Around April 1, Zcash saw over $10 million in net inflows within 48 hours, driven mainly by large investors. On-chain data shows these funds were concentrated in a few large wallets, while spot exchange net flows were negative, indicating classic long-term allocation.
Early April 2026: Privacy Coin Sector Breaks Out. DASH soared 30% to 34% on April 10 alone, leading the privacy coin rally. ZEC posted a weekly gain of 49%, with $41.46 million in derivatives capital flowing into privacy coin-related assets. Behind this sector rotation were factors such as Western Union’s acquisition of the Dash wallet and renewed risk appetite following a ceasefire between the US and Iran.
April 13, 2026: Foundry Officially Launches Zcash Mining Pool. On the same day, the SEC formally announced the end of its Zcash investigation, with the double boost further intensifying market focus on the privacy sector.
As of April 14, 2026, according to Gate market data, Zcash was priced at $357.75, up 64.38% over 30 days and 866.93% over one year. DASH was at $40.40, up 34.51% in seven days and 94.67% over the year. Monero traded at $347.41, with a market cap of about $6.4 billion. The simultaneous rally of these three major privacy coins stands in stark contrast to the modest gains in Bitcoin and Ethereum, signaling that the privacy sector is now following its own independent market logic.
The Logic Behind Hashrate Migration by Mining Giants
First, hash rate scale. Foundry’s Bitcoin mining pool currently controls about 31% of global Bitcoin hash rate, making it the largest operator worldwide. Its Zcash pool quickly captured about 30% of Zcash’s network hash rate after launch, making Foundry the largest single mining pool in the Zcash ecosystem.
Second, institutional participation. The pool has already attracted several institutional miners, including publicly listed companies. Unlike open pools catering to retail miners, the Foundry Zcash pool operates on an invitation-only, institution-focused model, emphasizing compliance and security.
Third, technical architecture. Zcash uses the same PoW consensus mechanism as Bitcoin, running on the Equihash algorithm. This allows Bitcoin miners to switch part of their hash power to the Zcash network with relative ease.
Foundry’s move into Zcash can be analyzed from three perspectives.
From an asset allocation standpoint, institutional capital is seeking returns beyond Bitcoin. Foundry expects its Bitcoin pool clients to allocate some hash power to Zcash, effectively pursuing a "hashrate diversification" strategy—generating extra returns from different PoW networks without significantly increasing infrastructure costs.
From a technical compatibility standpoint, Zcash and Bitcoin share a PoW framework, allowing Foundry to leverage its technical expertise, client relationships, and operational experience from Bitcoin mining at minimal additional cost. Mike Colyer’s statement—"institutional miners will allocate part of their hash power to Zcash mining"—precisely captures this low-cost expansion logic.
From a market signaling perspective, Foundry is a subsidiary of DCG, and its strategic decisions partly reflect the parent company’s view of industry trends. DCG founder Barry Silbert stated at the New York Bitcoin Investors Week that 5% to 10% of Bitcoin capital will flow into privacy coins like Zcash in the coming years. Foundry’s actions can be seen as this thesis materializing at the mining infrastructure level.
A notable trend is that Foundry may not be the only mining giant eyeing the privacy sector. As Zcash’s price continues to rise and mining profitability improves, other major mining pool operators may follow suit and expand into privacy-focused PoW networks. If this trend takes hold, Zcash’s hash rate distribution could be reshuffled, with potential changes in hash rate concentration. However, for this scenario to play out, several conditions must be met: Zcash’s price must remain relatively high, institutional miners’ appetite for privacy coins must continue to grow, and the regulatory environment must remain favorable.
Breaking Down Market Narratives: Divergence and Consensus
Around Foundry’s entry into Zcash and the broader privacy sector revival, three dominant market narratives have emerged, each with its own tensions.
The Triumph of Institutional-Grade Compliant Privacy
This narrative argues that Zcash’s core competitive advantage lies in its "selective privacy" architecture—users can choose between transparent transactions or shielded transactions using zk-SNARKs, with optional disclosures to meet regulatory requirements. Compared to Monero’s "mandatory anonymity," Zcash offers institutional clients a path to compliance. ChainCatcher’s analysis highlights that new-generation privacy projects are building a "programmable compliance" paradigm, embedding compliance logic directly into protocol code—transforming privacy from a regulatory adversary to a compliance enabler. Foundry’s choice of Zcash over other privacy coins is seen as a strategic endorsement of this compliance-first approach.
Concerns Over Hashrate Centralization
Not all voices are optimistic. As Foundry’s Zcash pool quickly captured about 30% of the network’s hash rate, some analysts warn that Zcash faces the risk of excessive hash rate concentration under a single entity, which could threaten long-term decentralization and network security. Previously, Zcash’s mining ecosystem was relatively fragmented. While Foundry brings institutional-grade hash power, it also alters the distribution landscape.
Capital Rotation in the Privacy Sector
Some market observers believe the recent surge in privacy coins is more about capital rotation than a sustained, fundamentals-driven rally. They note that Bitcoin and Ethereum rose about 8% and 9% respectively during the same period, while privacy coins’ gains far outpaced these blue chips—suggesting capital is flowing from large-caps into undervalued, underpriced privacy assets. DASH’s 30% single-day jump, accompanied by $41.46 million in derivatives inflows, also signals a wave of speculative positioning. The key debate here: is the privacy coin rally the start of a structural recovery, or just a short-term speculative play?
Narrative Tension Signals a Turning Point for Privacy Coins
The tension among these three narratives is telling—when a sector moves from the margins to the mainstream, debates over compliance, centralization versus decentralization, and speculation versus long-term allocation are inevitable. Foundry’s choice represents a pragmatic compromise: building on the most "Bitcoin-like" PoW consensus, it connects to an asset network that balances privacy features with compliance potential.
Industry Impact: From Mining Landscape to Sector Valuation
Impact on the Mining Landscape
Foundry’s entry into Zcash marks a shift for mining infrastructure operators from "single-asset dependence" to "multi-asset strategies." Historically, Bitcoin mining pool operators focused almost exclusively on the Bitcoin network, leaving PoW privacy coins like Zcash without institutional-grade pool services. Foundry’s move fills this gap and offers a replicable business model for other mining giants. If proven successful, this could drive a systemic upgrade in PoW privacy coin infrastructure, boosting network security and resilience.
Impact on Privacy Sector Valuation Logic
The valuation logic for privacy coins is being reshaped. In the past, privacy coins were marginalized by major exchanges and regulators due to their "anonymity," resulting in persistently low market caps. Zcash currently has a market cap of about $5.97 billion, just 0.22% of the total crypto market—far below its potential value as a financial privacy infrastructure. With the entry of institutional-grade service providers like Foundry, the end of the SEC investigation, and the advancement of Grayscale’s ETF application, the "compliance discount" for privacy coins is gradually being erased.
A key variable is Zcash’s integration with major exchanges and payment networks. Zcash is currently working to connect with several trading platforms, aiming for completion by the end of April. Once integrated, Zcash’s liquidity and accessibility will improve significantly, creating a positive feedback loop: "improved liquidity → greater institutional interest → capital inflows → further liquidity improvement."
Impact on Participants
For regular users, Foundry’s entry has at least two major implications. First, Zcash network security is greatly enhanced by the addition of institutional-grade hash power, making 51% attacks much more costly. Second, as Zcash gains attention and exchange integration progresses, it becomes easier for users to acquire and trade Zcash. On major platforms like Gate, users can already buy and sell Zcash and DASH directly through spot trading pairs.
Three Possible Paths for the Privacy Sector
Scenario 1: Institutional-Grade Compliant Privacy Becomes Mainstream
If the Grayscale Zcash Trust spot ETF is approved, Foundry’s mining pool continues to attract institutional hash power, and more traditional financial institutions add Zcash to their portfolios, the privacy sector could take a compliance-driven path distinct from "mandatory anonymity" coins like Monero. In this scenario, Zcash may become the standard "privacy layer" in institutional crypto portfolios, with its market cap potentially expanding well beyond the current $6 billion range. Key indicators to watch: Grayscale ETF approval progress, on-chain accumulation by institutional wallets, and changes in Zcash liquidity on major exchanges.
Scenario 2: Hashrate Concentration Sparks Governance Controversy
If Foundry’s hash rate share continues to grow to 40% or even over 50%, the Zcash community may face deep debates over centralization and network security. Bitcoin has faced similar debates in the past, but its large network and diverse mining ecosystem provide strong self-correction. As a smaller network, Zcash has less experience managing hash rate concentration. If tensions escalate, this could lead to community splits or technical changes. Key indicators: Foundry’s hash rate share trends, changes in other pools’ hash rates, and governance proposals within the Zcash community.
Scenario 3: Ongoing Tug-of-War Between Privacy Narrative and Regulation
Although the SEC has ended its investigation into Zcash, global regulatory attitudes toward privacy coins remain divided. In early 2026, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit ordered local exchanges to delist Zcash, Monero, and DASH. This means the privacy sector still faces "fragmented" regulatory challenges worldwide—even as it gains compliance ground in the US, other jurisdictions may maintain or even tighten restrictions. If regulatory divergence widens, liquidity gaps across markets could grow, impacting global price discovery. Key indicators: policy moves in major jurisdictions, listing/delisting decisions by top exchanges, and the pace of Zcash’s adoption within compliance frameworks.
Conclusion: The "Infrastructure Moment" for Privacy Coins
Foundry’s move into Zcash mining is, at its core, a case of an infrastructure operator "voting" for a sector narrative. Mining giants cast their votes with hash power, signaling a fundamental belief in the long-term value of PoW privacy coins. The logic is straightforward: as institutional capital begins to treat financial privacy as a core requirement rather than a fringe tool, the underlying networks must be supported by institutional-grade infrastructure. Foundry’s entry fills a critical gap in the Zcash ecosystem.
However, it’s important to note that while Foundry’s move is a necessary condition for the privacy sector’s structural recovery, it is not sufficient on its own. The ultimate success of privacy coins depends on continued technical innovation to meet compliance needs, sustained institutional allocation, and a stable global regulatory outlook. For industry participants, Foundry’s decision offers a valuable window into the future—mining giants rarely pivot on a whim; their strategic shifts are the result of long-term industry analysis and careful risk assessment.
