Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson claims Zcash surpasses Bitcoin in preserving anonymity through zk-SNARKs. XRP's U.S. spot ETF inflows reached $94.71M in May, marking a 16% increase from April. A corporate whale, Strategy, acquired 15,466 BTC, raising its total reserves to 834,335 BTC.
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**TL;DR**
Amid a new wave of Wall Street interest in privacy-focused assets, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson stated that Zcash (ZEC) is far closer to the original philosophy of digital cash than modern Bitcoin. According to Hoskinson, if coins are evaluated through the lens of the legendary cypherpunk manifestos, Zcash conceptually defeats BTC. Hoskinson's main argument is that Bitcoin has lost its most important original element - anonymity. Today, BTC has become too public, institutionalized and transparent. Meanwhile, thanks to its zero-knowledge proof technology (zk-SNARKs), Zcash fully conceals transaction participants and amounts.
Imagine being so deep in a cult that you call a proof of work, no premine, privacy coin a shitcoin and then have absolutely no clue that Hal wanted it to exist back in 1993 when he wrote:
“Cryptography can make possible a world in which people have control over information about…
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK\_Charles) May 17, 2026 Hoskinson also cited writings by Hal Finney from 1993, in which he described electronic cash as a tool that returns control over personal information to individuals outside the reach of the state. Technically, Zcash implemented this concept more accurately than Bitcoin's open blockchain, according to the Cardano founder. Hoskinson's attempt to place Zcash on a pedestal triggered fierce backlash from Bitcoin maximalists. Critics pointed to what they describe as Zcash's fundamental flaw, arguing that it can never surpass Bitcoin in terms of trust because 25% of the reward from every mined block was automatically directed to the developers' wallet. The community often refers to this as a "hidden premine", contrasting it with Bitcoin's launch. *ZEC and BTC price action in Spring 2026, Source:* They also called Hoskinson's arguments a marketing move, emphasizing that Hal Finney died long before Zcash was created, never supported it, and that his family publicly identifies as Bitcoin supporters. This debate is unfolding at a time when Zcash is experiencing an institutional renaissance. Major players, including the Winklevoss twins and Barry Silbert, are once again accumulating the asset, while Grayscale is exploring the conversion of its Zcash Trust into a full-fledged spot ETF.
Charles Hoskinson argues that Zcash better preserves the original cypherpunk ideals of anonymity through its zk-SNARKs technology, unlike Bitcoin's public and transparent nature.
XRP's U.S. spot ETF inflows reached $94.71 million in May 2026, a 16% increase from April, setting a new monthly record for that year.
Strategy acquired an additional 15,466 BTC, bringing its total Bitcoin reserves to 834,335 BTC.
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Institutional investors continue to increase their exposure to XRP. According to the latest data from SoSoValue, net inflows into U.S. spot XRP ETFs reached $94.71 million in incomplete May trading, surpassing April's total result of $81.59 million by 16% and marking a new monthly record for 2026.
Investor interest was distributed unevenly across the market, with funds from Bitwise, Canary and Franklin emerging as the primary beneficiaries of May inflows. Against this backdrop, the combined net assets under management (AUM) of U.S. XRP ETFs approached the $1.18 billion mark.
Corporate Bitcoin whale Strategy continues aggressively accumulating BTC using the unique mechanics of its Stretch (STRC) preferred shares. According to final data from strc.live, between May 11 and May 15, Strategy added another 15,466.30 BTC to its balance sheet, equivalent to more than $1.2 billion.
Purchases were made in the $79,000-$82,000 price corridor, and if the figure is confirmed, the company's total reserves will rise to 834,335 BTC.
Bitcoin is holding its ground amid Kevin Warsh's arrival at the Federal Reserve and record ETF outflows, while investors await key inflation tests. **Key checkpoints:**