Zcash (ZEC) Eclipses Bitcoin as Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency

Zcash (ZEC) is often overlooked in favor of its more popular cousin Bitcoin (BTC), but it has several features that make it worth considering for investors. One key aspect of Zcash is its halving mechanism, which was copied from Bitcoin and will occur on November 23, 2028.

Like Bitcoin, Zcash also uses a protocol with a block subsidy decrease by 50% every 210,000 blocks. However, it operates at significantly higher speeds than Bitcoin, with 75-second blocks that are set to be reduced to 25 seconds in the next network update.

The main driver of Zcash's value is not scarcity as a store of value, but rather demand for privacy and the stickiness of its features when applied to assets. Currently, about 4.9 million ZEC (29% of the circulating supply) is stored in shielded pools, which have encrypted technology that hides users' balances, transactions, and identities.

While this offers value to holders, it also poses a risk as regulators may not like reduced ability to police who owns what and from where. Nevertheless, Zcash has many of the same store-of-value properties as Bitcoin, making it worth adding to one's watch list or even buying a small amount today.