[Research] Zcash and the Future of Financial Privacy

Bitcoin introduced a new form of transparency in 2009: every transaction permanently recorded on a public ledger, viewable by anyone. That openness proved money could move without intermediaries - but it came with a trade-off.

Few individuals or institutions would want every financial transaction broadcast publicly -whether purchasing goods, paying operational expenses, or processing payroll. Yet that's exactly how most cryptocurrency networks operate today.

Zcash addresses the question: can digital currency maintain privacy within a system designed for transparency?

This report examines Zcash's current market position. We analyze its privacy-first architecture and cryptographic foundation, evaluate adoption metrics relative to competitors, assess the evolving regulatory landscape, and explore its central premise: that financial privacy should be a right, not an afterthought.

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Key findings:

Zcash's share of the privacy coin market (by market capitalization) expanded from 10% to approximately 40% between August and October 2025, marking the first major power shift in years.

Shielded ZEC supply ("shielded" addresses hide the sender, receiver, and amount of a transaction) tripled from 1.2 million to 4.5 million ZEC during 2025, pushing the encrypted pool to 20-25% of total supply.

Zcash processed several million monthly transactions in late 2025, with over 30% involving the shielded pool. Monthly spot trading volume averaged over $2B, with major exchanges maintaining consistent depth of 2,000-3,000 ZEC at mid-price levels.

Zcash's November 2024 halving reduced annual inflation from 9% to approximately 4%, with projections showing further decline to ~2.7%. With 16.3 million of 21 million ZEC already in circulation as of Q4 2025, the supply curve is compressing faster than Bitcoin's schedule.

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The information provided by this report does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by CoinDesk Data. Any redistribution of charts appearing in this Review must cite CoinDesk Data as the sole provider and creator.