The Zcash team will introduce wallets with quantum recovery mechanisms within a month. This was announced by Josh Swihart, founder and CEO of Zcash Open Development Lab, at the Consensus conference, as reported by CoinDesk.
According to him, the network's full transition to post-quantum standards will take 12 to 18 months. The project is also working on scaling to a capacity comparable to Mastercard and Visa within a similar timeframe.
Swihart stated that Zcash aims to return the industry to its original vision of private peer-to-peer payments. He noted that while Bitcoin serves well as a store of value and an ETF tool, it is "fundamentally broken" as a confidential payment system due to its fully transparent ledger.
Open balances allow governments and other entities to track users' assets and potentially apply seizure mechanisms or pressure, the expert emphasized.
Zcash Rally
In the past week, the price of ZEC has surged by over 60%. On May 6, the asset's price exceeded $585 for the first time since November 2025, as reported here.
At the time of writing, the coin is trading around $571 (-0.1% over 24 hours).
One of the drivers behind this rally was a statement from Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain, who revealed that the fund has built a "significant position" in Zcash since February.
Another contributing factor is the increase in the protected supply of ZEC. Currently, about 30% of the circulating coins are in a private pool, marking a historical high for the network.
According to Swihart, user demand is coming through the Zodl mobile wallet (formerly Zashi). In October, a system for intentions from the NEAR protocol was integrated into it, allowing users to exchange Bitcoin, Solana, USDC, and other assets directly into protected ZEC.
🛡️ The Zolana Bridge is live.
— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) October 16, 2025
Your Intent: $ZEC on Solana.
Delivered: with NEAR Intents + OmniBridge powering Zcash’s $ZEC token on Solana. pic.twitter.com/cXBqgCXXTK
Since its launch, around $700 million has flowed through this route, primarily between USD, USDC, and ZEC.
Faster Block Processing and New Bridges
The Zcash community is actively discussing reducing block processing time from 75 to 25 seconds. This change is expected to enhance the network's usability for payments and expand its capabilities for mass payment scenarios.
Cross-chain bridges for Zcash to Solana and Hyperliquid are already operational, noted Helius founder Mert Mumtaz.
Swihart announced a voting mechanism for ZEC holders through Zodl. This tool will not replace formal governance but will create an additional feedback channel within a "rough consensus" model.
Recall that in December 2025, Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, predicted a shift in focus from Bitcoin towards Zcash.