Zcash Jumps 20% After Paradigm Discloses ZEC Investment — SkimNews
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- Zcash (ZEC) rose about 20% over 24 hours to around $1,338, extending its one-month gain to roughly 160% versus Bitcoin's 18.2% over the same period, per Coingecko data.
- Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed in a Wednesday post that the firm is an investor in the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) and holds ZEC tokens.
- Huang framed Zcash as a "private complement to Bitcoin" and endorsed its inflation-funded developer model, arguing long-term funding matters as AI-driven cyber capabilities and quantum computing advance.
- ZEC coinholders approved NU7 upgrade proposals with 99.9% backing a cut in target block times from 75 to 25 seconds and 98.9% voting to leave the halving schedule and issuance unchanged; developers aim to finalize upgrade contents by Sept. 30.
- Paradigm's broader Zcash ecosystem bet was already public via March's $25 million-plus ZODL seed round, which also included a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital.
- The privacy-coin sector sat 213% above its level at Bitcoin's October 2025 peak, while a basket excluding ZEC gained about 85% over the past year, per Glassnode data.
- The Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4% — its first increase since 2023 — coinciding with the broader crypto market rally that lifted ZEC.
Why it matters: Paradigm's public endorsement gives Zcash's inflation-funded developer model institutional backing at a moment when privacy coins are dramatically outperforming — the sector is 213% above its level at Bitcoin's October 2025 peak, and ZEC alone is up 160% in a month versus Bitcoin's 18.2%. With NU7's block-time cut and stable halving now coinholder-approved, ZODL-affiliated developers have a mandate to ship by Sept. 30.
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