Foundry Digital Captures 30% of Zcash Hashrate with New Mining Pool

Foundry Digital has officially entered the Zcash (ZEC) ecosystem, launching a dedicated mining pool that has already captured approximately 30% of the network's total hashrate. The New York-based firm, already a dominant force in Bitcoin mining, integrated several institutional miners into the pool prior to its public rollout following an initial announcement in March. To support the launch, Foundry introduced Zcashinfo.com, a comprehensive block explorer. This tool provides transparency for the network, offering real-time data on mining difficulty, block production, and hashrate distribution, allowing participants to monitor the network's health and competition. Zcash operates on a proof-of-work model using the Equihash algorithm, which differs from Bitcoin's SHA-256 by requiring higher memory capacity. While both assets share a 21 million coin supply cap, Zcash produces blocks roughly every 75 seconds, significantly faster than Bitcoin's 10-minute interval. The network is distinguished by its use of zk-SNARKs, which allow for private transactions on a public blockchain. The pool utilizes a pay-per-last-N-shares (PPLNS) reward model to distribute payouts based on miner contributions over time. By focusing its onboarding efforts on regulated entities, Foundry is positioning itself as a professional gateway for institutional exposure to Zcash's privacy-preserving infrastructure.