Foundry launches Zcash mining pool, notches 29% hashrate in first month
TL;DR
Foundry Digital has launched a Zcash mining pool, achieving nearly 30% of the network's hashrate in its first month. The pool aims to provide a compliant mining solution for institutional and public miners.
Key points
- Foundry Digital launched a Zcash mining pool
- Achieved nearly 30% of the Zcash network hashrate
- Targeting institutional and public miners
Crypto mining pool operator Foundry Digital has launched a pool for the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash, which the company says has secured nearly 30% of the Zcash network hashrate through partnerships with multiple institutional mining clients.
“Institutional and public miners are seeking a compliant, purpose-built Zcash mining solution,” Foundry said on Monday, a month after announcing its plan to create the Foundry Zcash Pool.
Source: Foundry
Foundry, which is also the largest mining pool on the Bitcoin blockchain, did not disclose which institutional miners it had onboarded to reach a 29.2% hashrate share.
Mining pools secure proof-of-work blockchains by pooling computing power from commercial miners and others to share rewards proportionally with the aim of reducing variance.
Foundry added that it launched a Zcash block explorer, which shows that the Foundry Zcash Pool has mined 2,344 blocks since it launched earlier this month.
Zcash blocks are mined roughly every 75 seconds, paying a block subsidy of 1.25 Zcash (ZEC) tokens in reward for solving blocks, which equates to about $458 at current market prices.
While Foundry said it launched the Foundry Zcash Pool earlier this month, Zcashinfo.com data suggests that it started accumulating hashrate on or around March 4, about a week before it was first announced.
Foundry’s rise in hashrate share has cut into ViaBTC’s dominance, which has fallen from 68.1% on Feb. 27 to 37% at the time of writing.
Split of Zcash hashrate among mining pool operators over the past week. Source: Zcashinfo.com
Related: Dash Evolution chain integrates Zcash Orchard privacy pool
Crypto exchange Coinbase flagged ViaBTC’s hashrate dominance as a security risk to the network in September 2023.
ZEC has been one of the better-performing cryptocurrencies over the last year, rising 1,050%, including a 77.2% rally over the last month following Foundry’s initial announcement.
It is now the fifth-largest proof-of-work token at $6.2 billion market cap, trailing Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and competitor privacy coin Monero (XMR).
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Q&A
What percentage of the Zcash network hashrate does Foundry's mining pool control?
Foundry's Zcash mining pool controls approximately 29.2% of the Zcash network hashrate.
Why did Foundry launch a Zcash mining pool?
Foundry launched the Zcash mining pool to meet the demand for a compliant, purpose-built mining solution for institutional and public miners.
Which institutional miners are part of Foundry's Zcash mining pool?
Foundry has not disclosed the names of the institutional miners that have joined its Zcash mining pool.
