Privacy series part 1: one Zcash pool holds 16x the new privacy stack
Introduces part one of the A1 Research privacy series, comparing shielded Zcash with the new confidential stack of Railgun, Zama, NEAR and others and the trust models each one asks users to accept.
One Zcash pool holds 16x more private money than every new privacy project combined.
- Shielded ZEC: $6.23B
- Railgun, Zama, NEAR Confidential & co: ~$393M
The new stack can do what Zcash can't tho. Lend, swap, trade, hold a confidential dollar. That's why the real question is: what you give up for it.
Part 01 of our @a1research__ privacy series covers:
- Where Monero and Zcash hit their ceiling
- Where shielded ZEC goes when it leaves the pool
- Why none of the 5 live confidential dollars publish supply
- Who holds the keys at NEAR, Zama, Paradex and co
- Privacy chains vs plug-and-play privacy
Same narrative, very different trust models and use cases.
Full piece below. ↓
What came next · since 28 Oct 2026
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This breakdown analyzes the project without making a call on the token, so price moves since publication are shown as market context.
No follow-up pieces on this subject yet. This is the latest take.
Daily closes in USD from DefiLlama and Yahoo Finance. Only a bullish or bearish call in a thesis or market take is tracked; explainers, lists, maps and mentions are neutral context. Not financial advice.
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