Anika Begay
Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of crypto exchange Gemini, made headlines today by championing Zcash (ZEC) as one of the “most important and undervalued” crypto projects currently on the market. His statement came via a post on X, highlighting the crucial roles of privacy and decentralization in maintaining a “free and open society.”
“Zcash is one of the most important and underrated cryptocurrency projects in the world today. It brings privacy and decentralization to money, two fundamental elements of a free and open society. That’s why I’m supporting Shielded Labs and their contributions to Zcash. Go!” Tyler wrote.
Why Zcash Is The “Most Underrated” Cryptocurrency Project
This approval coincides with news from Shielded Labs, an independent Switzerland-based organization dedicated to Zcash, which announced significant organizational changes and development plans on August 8. Zooko Wilcox, known for his role in founding Zcash (ZEC) and Electric Coin Company (ECC), has joined Shielded Labs as Head of Product and has also taken a seat on its Board of Directors.
Wilcox’s immediate task is to oversee the development of Crosslink, a project aimed at transitioning Zcash from a pure Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocol to a hybrid Proof-of-Work/Proof-of-Stake (PoW/PoS) consensus protocol. His leadership is expected to be instrumental in Zcash’s strategic planning and fundraising efforts, with significant contributions already coming from the likes of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Vitalik Buterin, and the Anoma Foundation, among others.
Wilcox also published a blog post titled “Zcash is Winning,” detailing the philosophical and practical reasons why Zcash is a cornerstone project in the cryptocurrency space, focusing on privacy as a cornerstone of civil rights and economic freedom. He emphasized the importance of evolving Zcash’s technology to ensure it remains a viable and secure form of private money, against pressure from national governments.
“Zcash allows anyone, anywhere to send, receive, and hold private money without being pressured or coerced by others. Zcash puts control of your money solely in your hands,” Wilcox noted in his post.
Wilcox sees the transition to a hybrid PoW/PoS system as a necessary evolution to maintain the currency’s distribution while alleviating price pressures caused by continuous coin creation, a model that follows Bitcoin’s original structure.
“It’s time to upgrade Zcash to (hybrid) Proof-of-Stake. Creating and distributing ZEC coins via the Proof-of-Work mining algorithm was a necessary first step. […] This ensured that ZEC flowed far and wide, and invisibly, into the hands of the people who valued it most and were most committed to its long-term mission,” Wilcox noted.
Since Shielded Labs’ announcement, Zcash has surged in price by over 35%. However, ZEC is still down over 98% from its all-time high of $3,191 from October 2016. At press time, ZEC was trading at $41.07.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
