Zooko Wilcox, the founder of the privacy coin Zcash, has joined Shielded Labs to expedite the protocol’s transition to a hybrid proof-of-stake (PoS) system.
Zooko Wilcox, the founder of Zcash and the current director of product at Shielded Labs, stated in a blog post on August 10 that the privacy currency must be transitioned to a hybrid proof-of-stake system after eight years of utilizing proof-of-work mining.
He observed that the price of ZEC had been under downward pressure due to the PoW consensus and the creation of new coins; however, he anticipates that this pressure will subside as the rate of new coin creation decreases.
Two of the primary impending enhancements were the implementation of the Zcash Sustainability Fund and the transition to “Crosslink,” a hybrid proof-of-work and proof-of-stake protocol.
He stated, “Our objective is to expedite the deployment of this technology while preserving Zcash’s reputation for exceptional safety.”
Benefits of the upgrade include the ability to stake ZEC for ZEC holders, the provision of finality that safeguards users from rollback assaults, the reduction of transaction times, and the establishment of safer two-way bridges to other networks.
Nevertheless, Wilcox did not provide a timeline for the upgrade or any additional technical information. The Electric Coin Company (ECC), the organization responsible for the development of Zcash, initially addressed PoS interoperability in 2021.
On August 8, the ECC announced that Zooko would be relocating to Shielded Labs, an independent organization based in Switzerland dedicated to the support of Zcash, in a post on X.
“This news is a win for the Zcash community, and we look forward to collaborating with Shielded Labs on Zcash hybrid PoW/PoS.”
Shielded Labs also disclosed that it had received substantial contributions from Zcash holders and supporters, including Cameron, Tyler Winklevoss, and Vitalik Buterin.
“The organization will leverage the funds to prioritize the development and implementation of Crosslink and expand its initiatives in partnership with ECC,” it stated.
In 2016, Zcash was introduced as a payment currency that prioritized privacy, closely resembling Bitcoin, from which it was derived.
Due to his promotion, Josh Swihart succeeded Zooko Wilcox as CEO of ECC in December.
The ZEC price has not acquired momentum since delisting several large centralized crypto exchanges in 2023 in response to regulatory pressure.
At the time of writing, ZEC was trading at slightly more than $41, having increased by 40% in the previous week.
Nevertheless, CoinGecko reports that the privacy coin has experienced a 98% decline from its all-time high of $3,191 in 2016.
