Dash, the privacy-focused layer-1 blockchain, has announced the integration of Zcash's advanced "Orchard" shielded pool technology into its secondary Evolution chain. The integration, set to go live in March 2026 following cybersecurity audits, marks a significant technical leap for the Dash network's privacy capabilities.
The initial phase will support basic transfers of Zcash (ZEC) on the Evolution chain. Subsequent upgrades are planned to incorporate Orchard's privacy features specifically for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The Dash Evolution team forked Zcash's latest Orchard architecture—written in Rust—and adapted it for their network. Orchard represents a major advancement over Zcash's previous Sapling architecture, eliminating criticized trust assumptions and offering a more secure, flexible system through Halo2-based cryptographic improvements.
The implementation will follow a "protected credit pool" structure. Users will lock DASH assets on the Dash Core chain to mint pegged "Credits" tokens on the Evolution Chain. These tokens can be transferred with complete anonymity using Orchard technology. When tokens are burned on Evolution, the locked DASH assets are released back to a transparent address—a mechanism similar to Zcash's shield/unshield model.
Dash also plans to create a separate security pool for shielded token upgrades and transfers, drawing parallels to Zcash's "Shielded Assets" concept but with a more comprehensive, independent architecture. The development creates technical parallels between the Dash and Zcash ecosystems, with Dash's existing ChainLocks mechanism and tokenomic elements resembling proposals within the Zcash community, such as those from Shielded Labs led by Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn.
The announcement comes amid growing momentum for privacy protocols in 2025-2026, framed by proponents as a response to increased financial surveillance. However, regulatory tension persists, as demonstrated by Dubai's Financial Services Authority (DFSA) banning privacy tokens like ZEC and Monero's XMR for regulated exchanges in January 2026.
The native DASH token saw a price surge of over 125% in January 2026, briefly reaching about $96 on Binance before retracing. The price action reflects two large spikes in 2025 and 2026, fueled by the growing privacy narrative in cryptocurrency markets.
