Foundry Digital’s newly launched Zcash (ZEC) mining pool captured roughly 29% of the community’s whole hashrate inside a month of going dwell, a charge of consolidation that rivals what ViaBTC, the prior dominant pool, took significantly longer to determine.
The pool went public in April 2026 after Foundry introduced the initiative on March 11, onboarding institutional miners forward of the general public launch.
The pace of that hashrate seize is the sign value inspecting. Foundry didn’t inch into Zcash mining, it arrived and instantly held roughly the identical share that ViaBTC had constructed because the incumbent chief, sitting at round 30% of community hashrate earlier than Foundry’s entry.
Key Takeaways:
- Hashrate Seize: Foundry’s Zcash pool seized ~29% of community hashrate inside one month of launch, per firm knowledge and the brand new Zcashinfo.com block explorer.
- Zcash Community Context: Zcash’s whole hashrate had risen from 8.1 GSol/s to 13.8 GSol/s since early September 2025 earlier than Foundry’s entry, with ViaBTC beforehand holding ~30% dominance.
- Pool Construction: The pool makes use of a PPLNS payout mannequin, distributes rewards by way of clear ZEC addresses, enforces KYC/AML checks, and requires no minimal hashrate, a deliberate institutional entry design.
- Compliance Infrastructure: Foundry’s pool mirrors the SOC 1 Kind 2 and SOC 2 Kind 2 compliance framework of Foundry USA Pool, its dominant Bitcoin mining operation.
- Zcashinfo.com Launch: Foundry launched a devoted Zcash block explorer alongside the pool, offering real-time hashrate distribution, pool rankings, and mining issue monitoring.
- What to Watch: Whether or not Foundry’s share continues climbing previous 30% – the edge at which centralization danger turns into a dwell community safety debate – is the following knowledge level that issues.
Uncover: How sovereign and institutional actors are reshaping proof-of-work community economics
What Does 29% Hashrate Seize in One Month Really Imply for Zcash Community Safety?
A single pool controlling 29% of a PoW community’s hashrate just isn’t inherently harmful, nevertheless it concentrates block manufacturing danger in ways in which demand monitoring.
At 29%, Foundry can’t unilaterally execute a 51% assault, however it’s shut sufficient to the edge that any additional natural development modifications that calculus.
The truth that ViaBTC was already sitting at ~30% earlier than Foundry launched means the community now has two swimming pools every holding roughly three-tenths of whole hashrate. That’s a distinct focus construction than existed six months in the past.
Foundry Zcash Pool is formally dwell! Since our announcement final month, we've seen speedy hashrate development reaching ~30% of community hashrate. Institutional miners have been on the lookout for compliant, purpose-built $ZEC infrastructure, and we're proud to ship it.
Moreover,… pic.twitter.com/GOXyKrqhhH— Foundry (@FoundryServices) April 13, 2026
Foundry CEO Mike Colyer framed the launch as an infrastructure hole play: Zcash has “matured into an institutional-grade asset, however the mining infrastructure supporting it hasn’t stored tempo.”
The information helps the premise that Zcash’s hashrate development from 8.1 GSol/s to 13.8 GSol/s since September 2025 displays increasing miner curiosity that the prevailing pool infrastructure wasn’t constructed to soak up at an institutional scale.
What Foundry has constructed operationally is notable for its compliance structure. The pool’s PPLNS payout mannequin, necessary KYC/AML checks, SOC 1 and SOC 2 audit equivalency, and 24/7 U.S.-based assist aren’t options designed for hobbyist miners.
Foundry’s $ZEC mining pool is dwell as we speak as one of many largest Zcash swimming pools by hashrate, with a number of institutional clients already actively mining. The monetary privateness ecosystem is rising. https://t.co/d39CYMltI6
— Barry Silbert (@BarrySilbert) April 13, 2026
No minimal hashrate requirement means the entry ground is low, however the compliance overhead alerts that is focusing on miners who want defensible regulatory positioning, the identical institutional cohort driving quantity on Foundry USA Pool in Bitcoin.
Zooko Wilcox, Zcash founder and now Chief Product Officer at Shielded Labs, immediately addressed the centralization angle: “This may unfold out the Zcash mining hashpower from its present focus in a single pool, and hopefully it should usher in new Zcash miners who belief Foundry to function a high-quality service.”
That framing treats Foundry’s entry as a decentralization occasion relative to ViaBTC’s prior dominance. Whether or not it stays that depends upon the place Foundry’s share stabilizes. If it climbs previous 35%, the narrative flips.
The information reveals speedy institutional onboarding. That means pre-existing demand from miners who had been ready for a compliant U.S.-based choice, not that Foundry manufactured the hashrate from scratch.
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