The privacy-focused cryptocurrency zcash (ZEC) is being noticed by traders again after a rally of more than 50% over the past week. The rally followed news from last week that the coin will switch to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm.
At 14:27 UTC on Wednesday, ZEC was up 22.7% over the past 24 hours and 56% for the past week, trading at a price of USD 261.
Despite the strong gains in recent days, however, zcash is still far away from its 2018 high of nearly USD 800.
The coin has also ended up somewhat in the shadow of monero (XMR), another privacy-focused coin with a significantly larger market capitalization.
The gains today come after Electric Coin Company, the organization behind zcash, last week launched a new roadmap for development and said they will move the cryptocurrency to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, from previously relying on proof-of-work (PoW).
The PoS consensus mechanism has become more popular in recent years, with proponents arguing that it is a more environmentally friendly way to secure cryptocurrency networks than the more energy-intensive PoW model.
In addition to transitioning to proof-of-stake, the organization also said it will release a new wallet that will leverage the new consensus algorithm, and that cross-chain interoperability across Web 3 protocols will continue to be an area of focus.
“In this internet, ZEC will be a critical means for economic good and used in solutions that protect privacy and liberties,” Electric Coin Company said about its vision for ZEC’s place in tomorrow’s Internet.
Following the release of the new roadmap, the coin has received public attention from some heavyweights in the crypto industry. Among them was CEO and founder of Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert, who retweeted and shared a number of bullish takes on the cryptocurrency as of late.
In particular, Silbert appeared to focus on what he called other people’s “hate” towards the coin:
Moreover, he also said that all of the hate has only made him want to buy more:
It is worth noting, however, that Silbert’s firm already has an interest in attracting investors to zcash via its Grayscale Zcash Trust, a publicly traded investment vehicle in the US.
In addition to the positive comments from Barry Silbert, however, whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden has also praised zcash publicly in recent days, saying on Twitter that it is “a decentralized, functional chain with a specific (and useful) purpose.”
Snowden added that zcash enables private transactions “extremely well,” and that the coin in his view “meaningfully advanced what cryptocurrency could DO.”
