CoinDesk’s Crypto Long & Short column turned to Zcash this week, framing privacy as a more urgent issue in an era where artificial intelligence has made it cheaper to connect wallet addresses with the people behind them. The article argues that blockchain data does not fade with time, which leaves transaction histories permanently available for analysis.
Michael Zhao of Grayscale Research said Zcash’s shielded transactions are designed to address that problem. In the piece, he pointed to the network’s privacy-preserving transaction option as a way to reduce the risk that on-chain activity can be tied back to real-world identities.
The article also cited a network-level figure: close to 29% of all ZEC ever mined now sits in the shielded pool. CoinDesk presented that number as evidence that Zcash’s privacy features continue to see use. The piece was written by Helene Braun and edited by Kim Greenberg Klemballa, and it was published on Oct. 7, 2026, in the CoinDesk Indices section.
CoinDesk’s latest Crypto Long & Short column focused on Zcash, arguing that privacy has become more pressing as AI makes it cheaper to link wallet addresses to the people behind them. The piece also noted that blockchain records do not age out, leaving transaction histories available for long-term analysis.
Michael Zhao of Grayscale Research said Zcash’s shielded transactions are built to address that issue. As described in the article, the feature is meant to make it harder to connect on-chain activity with real-world identities.
Nearly 29% of mined ZEC is in the shielded pool
The article said close to 29% of all ZEC ever mined now sits in the shielded pool. CoinDesk used that figure to show that Zcash’s privacy functionality continues to be used.
The story was written by Helene Braun, edited by Kim Greenberg Klemballa, and published on Oct. 7, 2026, in CoinDesk Indices.
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