- ZCash (ZEC) rose over 7% in 24 hours, making it the only top-ten cryptocurrency to gain while Bitcoin fell more than 1%.
- Zcash Labs committed $80,000 to integrate the Ironwood shielded pool into Ledger hardware wallets.
- Zcash holders voted to cut block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds and retained Bitcoin-style halvings with 98.9% support.
Zcash (ZEC) defied the broader market downturn on Wednesday, surging over 7% in 24 hours to become the sole gainer among the top ten cryptocurrencies, while Bitcoin (BTC) slipped more than 1% to trade near $75,804. The rally followed an announcement from Zcash Labs, an organization launched in August to aid business adoption, which signed a funding agreement with Ledger, the hardware wallet manufacturer.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped approximately 2.5% over the past day, falling below $2.7 trillion, with liquidations surpassing $600 million. Bitcoin’s decline accelerated after the CLARITY Act, crypto’s most significant legislative effort of the year, stalled in Washington on Tuesday, leaving retail sentiment on Stocktwits in the “extremely bearish” zone.
Meanwhile, ZEC emerged as one of the top trending tickers on Stocktwits, with one retail user calling the altcoin “privacy that actually works.” The network’s momentum stems from a governance vote on NU7, the next upgrade, where holders chose to reduce block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds while preserving the halving schedule, mirroring Bitcoin’s issuance model.
Only ZEC held in the Ironwood pool could participate in the vote, and the decision to keep halvings passed with 98.9% approval. Faster blocks will accelerate initial confirmations, though daily issuance remains unchanged since each block yields fewer tokens. The advisory panel was divided on the halving question, with 57 members opposed and 54 in favor.
Zcash Labs announced on Tuesday that it had committed $80,000 to integrate the Ironwood pool into Ledger devices, enabling ZEC holders to self-custody coins from the latest pool on their hardware. The company clarified that this bilateral agreement with Ledger sits outside the community grant, altering none of the deliverables owed to stakeholders or the existing review process.
ZEC has climbed over 137% year-to-date and more than 2,245% over the last 12 months.
✅ Follow BITNEWSBOT on Telegram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X.com, and Google News for instant updates.
