Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert declared on X that "the 'privacy' era in crypto has officially begun," igniting a new narrative around financial confidentiality. Silbert, a long-time privacy advocate, believes that Zcash (ZEC) is mirroring Bitcoin’s historic 2013-2014 rally, setting the stage for a massive 2015-2020 style breakout. He pointed to the market’s evolving understanding of digital privacy, noting that in Bitcoin’s early days many falsely assumed transactions were anonymous—an illusion shattered by blockchain analytics.
Zcash’s use of zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) for shielded addresses has attracted Wall Street validation. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted ZEC’s 1,140% surge over the past year, dwarfing Bitcoin’s gains. Silbert, whose DCG has made Zcash one of its largest holdings this year, also revealed a new institutional-grade Zcash Mining Pool, which saw "significant demand" and signals a growing financial privacy ecosystem. The Winklevoss twins have separately invested $50 million into a digital-asset treasury company to stockpile ZEC.
Meanwhile, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes unveiled a portfolio focused on three themes: HYPE for trading fees, Zcash for privacy, and NEAR for AI infrastructure. His endorsement triggered an immediate surge in trading volume across all three assets, with short sellers scrambling to cover positions. Hayes believes privacy crypto will return as governments tighten digital surveillance, making Zcash’s optional privacy features a key differentiator. The twin endorsements have propelled Zcash to the center of market attention, reviving debates over financial freedom and decentralized privacy tools.
