Electric Coin Co. (ECC), the firm behind the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC), has announced its strategic roadmap for the final quarter of 2025. The plan introduces key technical upgrades aimed at enhancing user privacy and wallet functionality, arriving as Zcash experiences a significant increase in both its market price and the amount of funds held in its private pools.
The token's value has climbed dramatically in recent months, alongside a record-breaking expansion of its shielded supply, indicating a growing demand for private digital transactions.
Key Takeaways
- Electric Coin Co. has released its development roadmap for Q4 2025, focusing on privacy and usability for its Zashi wallet.
- Zcash's price has surged from approximately $50 in mid-September to around $420.
- The shielded supply in Zcash's most advanced privacy pool, Orchard, has exceeded 4.1 million tokens.
- Key roadmap goals include improving private swaps with temporary addresses and enhancing hardware wallet security.
Enhanced Privacy Through Technical Upgrades
The core of ECC's Q4 plan is to bolster the privacy features available to users of its Zashi wallet. A primary objective is the implementation of ephemeral, or temporary, addresses for every transaction conducted through the multichain NEAR Intents protocol. This change is designed to minimize address reuse, a practice that can potentially compromise user privacy over time.
Additionally, the roadmap details a new feature that will automatically generate a new transparent address for a user after their current one receives funds. This further reduces the digital footprint associated with transactions, making it more difficult to link multiple activities to a single identity.
"This quarter, ECC’s focus is on reducing technical debt, improving privacy and usability for Zashi users, and ensuring smooth dev fund management," the company stated in its announcement.
These upgrades build on functionality introduced earlier in the year, including a decentralized on-ramp for purchasing ZEC in October and a decentralized off-ramp for selling shielded ZEC in August. The firm had previously disabled an on-ramp via Coinbase, citing concerns over a new session-token requirement it deemed unfriendly to user privacy.
Focus on Security and Wallet Functionality
Beyond user-facing privacy enhancements, ECC is also concentrating on improving security and functionality for hardware wallet users. The roadmap includes specific quality-of-life fixes for individuals using the Keystone hardware wallet.
One key update will allow Keystone users to easily resync their devices, simplifying the user experience. Another significant development is the planned support for Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) multisignature wallets within Keystone. This technology requires multiple keys to authorize a single transaction, providing a much higher level of security for stored funds.
What is a Multisig Wallet?
A multisignature (multisig) wallet is a type of digital wallet that requires two or more private keys to sign and send a transaction. This setup is often used by organizations or groups to prevent unauthorized access to funds, as no single person can move the assets alone. ECC plans to use this technology to secure its own developer funds.
ECC has confirmed its intention to use one such multisig wallet to manage the Zcash developer funds, demonstrating a commitment to securing the project's financial resources with advanced cryptographic methods.
Market Responds with Explosive Growth
The technical developments coincide with a period of remarkable growth for Zcash. The price of ZEC has seen a dramatic increase, rising from just $50 in mid-September to its current trading price of approximately $420. This surge has pushed Zcash's market capitalization ahead of Monero, another well-known privacy-oriented cryptocurrency.
Zcash Growth by the Numbers
- Price Increase: Over 740% rise from ~$50 to ~$420 since mid-September.
- Shielded Supply: The Orchard protocol now holds over 4.1 million ZEC.
- Market Position: Zcash's market capitalization has recently surpassed that of its competitor, Monero.
This price appreciation is mirrored by a substantial increase in the amount of ZEC held within its shielded pools, which use zero-knowledge proofs to obscure transaction details. According to data from ZecHub, the supply of tokens in the Orchard protocol, the latest and most secure version of Zcash's privacy technology, has surpassed 4.1 million tokens.
The data shows that the bulk of this growth has occurred since mid-September, aligning with the token's price rally. This suggests a growing user base actively seeking out and utilizing Zcash's core privacy features. As market conditions evolve, ECC has stated it will adjust its approach, noting, "we will re-tune our approach, refocus our efforts, and step on the gas."
