Foundry, the DCG-owned mining pool operator that once dominated Bitcoin mining via Foundry USA Pool, has pivoted fast. In April, it officially launched a Zcash mining pool, and within weeks it has scooped up nearly one-third of the newly mined ZEC supply. That means roughly one out of every three fresh ZEC blocks now comes from Foundry-affiliated miners.
Filling the Compliance Gap for Institutions
Foundry CEO Mike Colyer stated: “Zcash plays a key role in advancing financial privacy. But it has matured into an institutional-grade asset, while the mining infrastructure supporting it hasn't kept up.” The new pool is built to close that gap: built-in KYC and AML checks for miners, transparent payment calculations, compliance reporting tools, and 24/7 technical support. This setup is rare for a privacy-coin pool, but it's the standard that U.S. publicly traded companies require to enter mining.
Previously, institutional miners wanting to mine Zcash couldn't find a pool that would pass a boardroom legal review. Financial disclosure, tax filings, and anti-money laundering compliance all carried prohibitive costs. Foundry's pool effectively becomes a compliant channel reportable to the SEC.
DCG's Three-Step Privacy Coin Play
In February, DCG founder and CEO Barry Silbert said that “5% to 10% of Bitcoin capital may flow into privacy coins, especially Zcash.” In late March, Grayscale (also under DCG) published a report arguing Zcash was severely undervalued and citing the rise of AI surveillance as a demand driver. Now the third step has landed: Foundry's pool gobbling up nearly a third of the network's hashrate.
Compliance vs. Privacy Paradox: Institutional compliance means every block reward distribution is recorded. For retail users, the “privacy” within the pool layer has all but evaporated — precisely what public companies need for audits.
Mike Colyer noted that multiple public companies are expected to allocate some of their hashrate to Zcash mining. For these firms, Foundry is not just a pool; it's a compliance gateway.