Foundry launches Zcash pool, captures 29% of network hash

Foundry Digital on Monday launched the Foundry Zcash Pool and a dedicated block explorer, Zcashinfo.com, and said multiple institutional miners were connected at the time of launch.

On-chain data shows the pool has claimed roughly 29% of Zcash’s total mining power in the weeks since the service was announced in March.

Foundry operates the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool. Data from Hashrate Index shows Foundry USA Pool accounts for about 29% of Bitcoin production among mining pools, and Foundry reported its Zcash pool has reached a comparable share on the Zcash network.

Zcashinfo.com allows users to search transactions, view block details and monitor mining pool statistics on the Zcash blockchain, the company said.

Foundry CEO Mike Colyer wrote that the launch fills a gap in infrastructure built for institutional users. “The launch of Foundry Zcash Pool reflects years of building infrastructure that institutions trust and a responsibility we’re committed to living up to in the Zcash ecosystem,” Colyer wrote. “Zcash offers something genuinely important to the digital asset ecosystem: verifiable financial privacy on a transparent blockchain.”

Zooko Wilcox, founder of Zcash and chief product officer at Shielded Labs, welcomed Foundry’s entry and described the pool and explorer as “valuable additions to Zcash’s infrastructure.”

Zcash launched in 2016 and uses zero-knowledge proofs to permit private transactions on a transparent ledger. The token experienced a large price spike last fall, rising from about $50 to nearly $700 over roughly two months, and has shown notable weekly and monthly gains more recently.

Foundry said the pool and explorer are intended to provide miners and users with transparent data and consistent mining services on the Zcash network.