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Cross-chain protocol THORChain has activated a liquidity pool for Zcash (ZEC). All network validators successfully synced with the Zcash blockchain after a scheduled network churn.
The main result of the release is the launch of the first decentralized platform for direct, permissionless swaps between Bitcoin (BTC) and the native ZEC token, without intermediaries, KYC, or "wrapped" assets.
Developers issued an immediate warning: the pool is still extremely shallow at launch, which creates a risk of significant price slippage on large orders.
How the integration closes a historic loop for Satoshi Nakamoto
This integration effectively gives Bitcoin the very privacy feature it originally lacked. Back in 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto acknowledged the need for absolute privacy for BTC but sacrificed it in favor of transparent protection against double-spending.
In 2013–2014, cryptographers from Johns Hopkins University and MIT resolved this dilemma, demonstrating that zk-SNARKs (zero-knowledge proofs) could confirm the validity of transfers while fully concealing their details. Bitcoin Core developers did not adopt the architecture because of its complexity and the risks associated with a "trusted setup" ceremony.
The Zooko Wilcox team then forked Bitcoin's code and launched Zcash on October 28, 2016. It retained Bitcoin's monetary model in full—21 million coins, proof of work, and halvings — while adding shielded addresses (a shielded pool).
Today's THORChain release turns the two into natural complements: transparent BTC retains its status as a global reserve, while Zcash addresses the need for end-to-end on-chain privacy, realizing Satoshi's lost vision, according to proponents.
The pool launch coincided with a major year-long shift in the positions of both assets:
- Zcash (ZEC): Trading in the $1,330–$1,390 range, with a market capitalization of 23–24.5 billion (ranked 9th–10th). Over the past 12 months, the coin has risen by more than 1,000%, climbing from around $450 in September to a peak of $1,700, followed by a weekly correction of 8–14%. ZEC's share of Bitcoin's market capitalization has jumped from a negligible less than 0.1% to around 1.5%.
- Bitcoin (BTC): Stuck in the $85,000–$86,500 range, with a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion—about 28% below its October 2025 all-time high of around $126,000.
- Drivers and a shadow factor: The Grayscale Zcash ETF (ZCSH) has brought in regulated capital, despite a recent $30 million outflow. Meanwhile, the community approved $8.4 million in grants, and the Network Upgrade 7 (NU7) update is being tested on the testnet, with a move to 25-second blocks. At the same time, in late September, addresses linked to the $387 million Bitget exchange hack quickly transferred around $4 million in ZEC directly into the Orchard shielded pool.
Cases of hackers laundering funds make THORChain's permissionless routes a sensitive issue for regulators, who have kept the protocol under scrutiny for a long time. Even so, the decentralized gateway is live, officially giving the market a tool for directly converting digital gold into absolute anonymity.
Arman Shirinyan
Dan Burgin
