Zcash shielded supply hits 5.1M ZEC as hashrate tops 16.3 GH/s

Zcash’s shielded supply reached a record 5.1 million ZEC in late May, and the network hashrate exceeded 16.3 GH/s. ZEC traded near $618 after rising about 13% while Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana declined.

Shielded supply is the amount of ZEC held in private pools that conceal transaction details. Most of the shielded balance sat in the Orchard pool at roughly 4.5 million ZEC by late May. Sapling held about 592,000 ZEC and Sprout about 25,000 ZEC.

The SEC closed its investigation into the Zcash Foundation in January. Grayscale is pursuing conversion of its Zcash trust into a spot ETF. Venture firm Multicoin Capital disclosed it had built a “significant position” in ZEC and described Zcash as the “cleanest way” to express a privacy-coin investment thesis.

Miners increased computing power securing the network, bringing hashrate to 16.3 GH/s in late May. Earlier peaks were near 11 GH/s in 2022 and about 10 GH/s in 2024. The November 2024 halving reduced new ZEC issuance, and several large miners expanded Zcash operations this year.

On the perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid, ZEC showed roughly $33.73 million in net buying pressure while Bitcoin recorded more than $506 million in net selling. Open interest in ZEC was near $368 million across about 7,190 traders. The annualized funding rate for ZEC stood near 40.77%, compared with about 10.95% for Bitcoin and Ethereum. A positive funding rate means long traders pay a premium to hold leveraged positions.

At the time of the on-chain records and trading data, ZEC traded near $618.