Winklevoss twins donate $1.2M to Shielded Labs to support Zcash

Shielded Labs said the funds will be used for protocol-strengthening work. The organization listed a network sustainability mechanism, the Crosslink project, and updates related to dynamic fees among the initiatives.

Shielded Labs describes itself as an independent Switzerland-registered organization funded solely through voluntary donations. The team says it does not receive money from the Zcash development fund and does not rely on block rewards. In the past, Shielded Labs worked with Electric Coin Company (ECC), one of the key organizations in the Zcash ecosystem, and took part in research tied to Crosslink and a so-called trailing finality layer. The concept is aimed at stronger transaction finality and could make the network easier to use in cases where irreversible confirmations matter, including cross-chain integrations.

The donation comes as Zcash has been navigating internal turbulence. A team of key developers recently left the project and said it plans to build an independent effort focused on privacy coins. The departure weighed on sentiment around ZEC, which fell by nearly 20% in the aftermath. Against that backdrop, the Winklevoss donation can be seen as support for the ecosystem during a difficult stretch.

The news also arrives amid renewed attention on Zcash’s privacy features. ZEC supports two types of transfers: transparent and shielded. Shielded transactions rely on cryptography such as zk-SNARKs to conceal transaction details. Market participants have long pointed to a practical constraint, however: some exchanges and services support only transparent addresses. That limits how widely shielded transfers are used, even when buyers see ZEC primarily as a privacy-focused asset.

Separately, the Zcash Foundation said in January that a multi-year review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ended without any enforcement action.

ZEC has remained volatile in recent months after a sharp run-up in late 2025. Traders are watching whether the project can maintain interest as developers pursue technical upgrades and governance discussions.