Mining giant Foundry Digital has launched a specialized pool for the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash, quickly capturing nearly 30% of the network’s hashrate through institutional partnerships. The move significantly reduces the dominance of ViaBTC, which had previously been flagged as a network security risk. Zcash’s price has surged over 77% in the last month following Foundry’s involvement.
Crypto mining pool operator Foundry Digital has launched a pool for the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash. The company stated it secured nearly 30% of the Zcash network hashrate through partnerships with multiple institutional mining clients. “Institutional and public miners are seeking a compliant, purpose-built Zcash mining solution,” Foundry said.
Foundry, the largest mining pool on the Bitcoin blockchain, did not disclose which institutional miners it onboarded to reach a 29.2% hashrate share. The company also launched a Zcash block explorer, showing the pool has mined 2,344 blocks since launching earlier this month.
Zcash blocks are mined roughly every 75 seconds, paying a block subsidy of 1.25 ZEC tokens. This equates to about $458 at current market prices. Foundry’s rise in hashrate share has cut into ViaBTC’s dominance, which fell from 68.1% in late February to 37%.
Crypto exchange Coinbase flagged ViaBTC’s hashrate dominance as a security risk to the network in September 2023. ZEC has been one of the better-performing cryptocurrencies over the last year, rising 1,050%, including a 77.2% rally over the last month.
It is now the fifth-largest proof-of-work token at a $6.2 billion market cap. It trails Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and competitor privacy coin Monero.
