Translation: Plain Blockchain

In today's struggle between the ideals of crypto and the stench of traditional finance, the once marginalized and thought to be "dead" progenitor of privacy, Zcash, is participating at the center stage of crypto in an incredible manner. As Bitcoin is gradually being "recruited" by Wall Street and multinational corporations, losing its early edge, who will carry the torch of original digital freedom and privacy defense?

This episode features a deep discussion with Tushar Jain, co-founder of Mult1C0in Capital, and industry influencer Mert Mumtaz, kicking off a conversation about the "final strike" of cryptocurrency. They unveil: why in the year 2026, amidst rampant artificial intelligence and tightening global wealth gaps, Zcash is poised to surpass Bitcoin through a "Trojan horse" approach of institutionalization, even overcoming the quantum computing crisis to emerge as a private value asset after seismic risks are adjusted?

This is a reflection that breaks factional barriers, and a must-read guide for industry re-evaluation. Let us dive down this rabbit hole filled with substantial content to witness how hardcore cryptography sandboxes transform the ultimate weapon for maintaining individual wealth privacy.

1. Wave Reignited: Zcash's Grassroots Mentality and Paradigm Shift Watching Bulls and Bears

Host: This podcast is quite sensational, and our lineup of guests is very interesting. I believe this will be a truly exciting episode. I was previously attracted by Zcash and then fell down the rabbit hole, discovering there is a lot of substantial content within. Mert, you have been discussing Zcash for more than half a year, possibly even longer. Tushar, Mult1C0in just publicly announced a substantial investment in Zcash. Tushar, perhaps we can start from here. What made you cross that threshold? What moment made you think, "Maybe we really should take Zcash seriously and invest heavily"? What moved you?

Tushar:For us, this is a series of important combinations. First, I want to acknowledge that Mert has been focused on this earlier than I have and has been discussing it for a long time. I was observing him while seeing how the entire narrative around Zcash started to really accumulate last year. This is an asset I have been watching since its inception, but for a long time it was basically considered dead, with no one really paying attention, just fading into obscurity.

Then I saw a tremendous amount of momentum. But when I noticed this, I still paused to think: Is this not artificially created? Can it sustain? Is there real grassroots support here? Did I just see a small echo chamber effect?

When you look at its price performance last year and then see our significant decline, I observed two points during the pullback: First, those who continued to talk about it were still very excited; second, the price level it pulled back to actually showed better attention and intensity than the trading positions of previous years.

Certainly, like everything in the market, things can become overheated, and people first price in the excitement, then the implied leverage in the market must be clarified, and that is what we saw last year. We also encountered a range of macro bear market factors in crypto, like the 1010 Spring Festival, etc. But Zcash endured this test, not losing key supporters, retaining most community support and price strength, which illustrated its inherent value, being one of the main factors that made us optimistic.

Host: Mert, people used to know you as the "Solana guy," the one who truly educated, promoted, and elevated Solana while also advocating for the asset. I feel like now crypto Twitter and the broader crypto community are calling you the "Zcash guy." Not completely excluding Solana, but it seems to be the focus of your direction now. Reflect on this transformation; as Tushar mentioned, you’ve been early on this. I saw you tweeted when Zcash hit around $80, announcing victory, telling me, "Hey, I've passed you all, and now we're at 500." Discuss what's happening with Zcash and why you decided to invest so much time and energy into it.

2. Privacy Puzzle: The Final Strike of Cryptocurrency and the Barbell Strategy

Mert:Okay, here’s a bit of background. About a few years ago, or exactly two years ago, Sean Bowden—whom I call the Anatoli of Zcash—he is a gifted technical mind, reached out to me along with a few others. At that time, I was known as the Solana guy and they wanted to hear my thoughts or comments on their upcoming scaling design. I thought Zcash had been abandoned at that time. That was about two years ago, and they wanted to see if their scaling proposal was feasible.

So, I started researching, and I am quite earnest, so I delved deep into everything. In the process, I found it to be very logical, technically interesting, and that it could work. However, they had a lot of other issues at the time, and we can discuss user experience layers, narrative, recruitment, market positioning, etc. This is when I first started to really understand it, around early 2024.

And by the way, I still believe in Solana above all—my company is only building infrastructure for Solana, and we are also building a privacy layer there now. So I'm not choosing one side over another; I call this an obvious barbell strategy—one end is Bitcoin and Zcash, and the other end is Hyperliquid, etc.

Then institutionalization in cryptocurrency began. I was ahead of most on this because I was meeting with a lot of suited folks behind the scenes. But when I saw everyone was doing defense tech, drones, leading-edge AI labs, etc., I was a bit disillusioned. I thought: What are we really doing? USDC is cool, but it's essentially the API of the dollar. I felt like I'd wasted time on cryptocurrency, although I enjoyed it, but the ideals and visions imagined were quite different.

After chatting with some friends, I formed a perspective over the next few months, realizing that privacy is the last significant issue forgotten in cryptocurrency, which I call the final strike. Much of the institutionalization actually stems from this.

We describe it this way: First, we need to prove that cryptocurrency is feasible, which Bitcoin does—showing that cryptographic currency is possible. The second is that Vitalik said it should be effective, hence Ethereum came about. Then Anatoly said we need to scale everyone. Lastly, because everyone was busy legalizing cryptocurrency, proving it could be used for good and not for crime, some parts were overlooked.

But now especially with Trump as president, the regulatory environment is more favorable, and we have an opportunity. We call it the thousand-day quest to win back freedom, re-legalizing privacy, bringing cryptocurrency back to its original form, instead of being co-opted.

Host: So this is really about pursuing crypto-punk ideals, and Zcash is that piece being reclaimed. Today, I would like to discuss many arguments with you regarding Zcash's institutionalization path, the value of privacy, the proof-of-work distribution period, etc. But here, I want to zoom out and ask one question: why Zcash? Why now? There are other privacy assets in the market that were previously valued, but now there seems to be unique and prioritized concentration in Zcash. Why have the stars aligned for Zcash? I throw this question back to you.

Mert:Yes, I have thought a lot about this question. My style is to focus on one chain or project, putting all my attention on it. So over the years, I have mainly been involved with Solana and Zcash.

Now? There are several dimensions of convergence. Clearly, that’s one. We also have those discussions about the Bitcoin ETF, Bitcoin derivatives, Simplified Street, etc. That part is significant. There’s Michael Saylor over there buying coins pushing the narrative, and his AI posts may not necessarily spread that narrative well. AI also, I initially thought AI was overrated. But if you take AI as a data processing expert computer, AI can crack pseudo-anonymous identities, which would make both transparency and privacy web effects.

Coupled with the trends from when President Trump was introduced, we saw trends like the California wealth seizure tax, the Dutch unrealized gains tax, leaning overall towards extreme socialism. Bringing all this together, along with zero-knowledge proofs themselves—everyone knows ZK, but it has been practically unusable for many years. It was only until two years, two and a half years that ZK became a usable scalable functional technology. And Zcash is the pioneer of ZK in the past; it first had a production-grade SNARK system. It really suffered for this, but now it’s available, with a trust-hidden pool of funds—without a doubt a solid setup.

Then there's Josh's Zoda team (formerly Zashi) that made a very usable wallet, demonstrating a good user experience achievable with the Zcash protocol. Plus, there's a near-protocol understanding; you can swap in from any chain and swap out to any other chain. I helped it go public on Solana and collaborated with Hyperliquid. Now, there's no bottleneck with centralized exchanges; you can use DeFi.

As for why Zcash instead of other privacy assets, the main competitor is Monero. But if you understand cryptography, you know Monero's ring signatures are a deceiving project, with every real transaction having 16 fake ones. Under AI or sufficiently powerful computation, anonymity can be greatly compromised. Zcash has done the hard work of producing SNARKs. It is a fork of Bitcoin, easily forming cultural genes, with a supply curve similar; clearly, it is close to digital gold. Its architecture is also more favorable for quantum protection, and it has achieved quantum readiness. Now, the recovering distribution comes from a forgotten era, most of the early sellers have sold out, leaving a very clean distribution.

3. Trojan Horse and Compliance Bridge: A New Path to Institutional Adoption

Host:I just recently started to understand the narrative of Zcash, and I want to confirm whether my understanding is correct. Zcash has a path to institutional acceptance and compliance, which means its potential market size could be substantial. This was a tweet from Matt Hogan of Bitwise: "When traditional finance people in leather shoes drag Bitcoin into the mainstream, it makes room for something like Zcash." Is Bitcoin losing its crypto-punk sharpness, being accepted by central banks and MicroStrategy, but the same institutional legitimacy path is open to Zcash? Tushar, can you talk about Zcash's potential institutional path? Why might institutions like, use, and adopt Zcash?

Tushar:I think Zcash's branding is more favorable for institutional adoption and attracts a broader audience. Other privacy coins like Monero have a very specific brand—people often say, "If Zcash's privacy is so good, why do zombies use Monero?" That’s Monero's brand, whereas Zcash is not. Zcash is ready for the average person: I care about my privacy not because I'm doing illegal things, but because I don't want to disclose my entire financial history to every transaction partner. I want to transact on the blockchain without going through a bank.

This is a branding issue. Zcash is becoming the "privacy for the common person" brand.

It combines with the desire to return to crypto-punk roots. Zcash embodies both crypto-punk roots and remains accessible and understandable to a large crowd. People might say, "I don't want to use Monero; that’s for tomatoes," but Zcash positions itself as the beneficiary.

Furthermore, for privacy to be truly useful, it needs to go beyond the niche and requires a Trojan horse. Zcash has both a transparent mode (the Bitcoin mode) and a privacy mode, allowing institutions to gain exposure to the asset, naturally leading a certain percentage of funds to flow into the pool. These individuals will help conceal legitimate privacy.

Privacy is a fundamental human right, especially in this interconnected system era. If you lack a strong foundation and a Trojan horse, merely bragging on the margins of the internet will never allow it to escape the requirements to become mainstream.

Host:So the bull market argument is: organically adopted privacy will increase the proportion of hidden funds in the pool, plus institutions adopting through the transparent version, will re-evaluate Zcash to a higher price. Is this the simple bull logic?

Tushar:That’s a good berry, but there’s more. It’s a competitive value storage market; it is more scalable than Bitcoin. The core value is value storage. It will benefit from reflexivity—more people use it to store value, it becomes a better private value storage asset, therefore more people choose it.

Mert:Privacy provides real interchangeability, which is a primary principle property that value storage must possess. Digital assets have a history, and will be marked by pollution, while privacy assets do not.

Host:I still want to lay the bear case on the counter. Fast forward a year, and if Zcash returns to $40, people would say: Why do so many people believe in privacy? No one really cares about privacy, just as no one truly cares about privacy. It’s noble, we should have it, but ultimately it becomes a tombstone for investing in privacy coins. Why is it different now?

Mert:From an adjusted risk-return perspective, there's nothing better in the entire industry than this right now. Zcash is still below XRP and BNB, but the target could be a percentage of Bitcoin's market cap. I am building actual things, including wallets, infrastructure, partnerships, VPN payments, etc. Even if it fails, this thing is worth pushing. It needs to exist. The data from the past 18 months proves that someone truly cares. We now have better user experiences, decentralized trading methods, and macro tailwinds.

Tushar:The past Zcash indeed had many problems, such as mandatory inflation, severe user experience issues, needing to buy through centralized exchanges, etc., but all of this has improved over the past 18 months. Now there’s macro trends supporting private value storage, such as wealth taxes and the rise of AI. Do not cling too tightly; look forward and be willing to change your past thoughts.

4. Mirror Gold: Monetary Policy, Historical Re-evaluation and Non-factional Cognition

Host:I want to talk about the Schelling point that Tushar mentioned earlier, along with Zcash's distribution and supply plans. Mert, can you share with us some distribution details about Zcash? The overall monetary policy, supply plan, proof-of-work phase, and how this strengthens Zcash's Schelling point?

Mert:It was released later than Bitcoin, so its tokenomics modify Bitcoin, just a bit later. The biggest difference is that a portion of fees can be voted on by token holders to adjust distribution. For example, Sean Bowden's team is working on Project Haakon, which not only can scale Zcash by an order of magnitude but will also make it completely quantum secure. If token holders think he is doing a good job, they will reward him through on-chain voting.

Host:It is essentially a fork of Bitcoin, capped at 21 million, halving every year. Zcash was launched around 2016, a few years later than Bitcoin. So, what you are saying is that apart from the grade differences you just mentioned, it completely replicates Bitcoin's monetary policy?

Mert:Correct. However, Tushar, as a liquidity investor, might understand the token details better.

Host: Tushar, what I want to know is, the monetary policy is similar to Bitcoin, but Zcash's price action and market history are completely different. It has been ridiculed in every cycle until now. This is actually the first time I've seen Zcash in my entire crypto career, even though today it is a sandbox for cryptographers. Discuss Zcash's history, price action, market positioning, and why this ultimately works to its advantage now?

Tushar:I was once an opponent of Zcash, or, to say I wasn't a fan. In fact, we even existed briefly in a short trade. I am not dogmatic; I have received new information. Now, the truly different change catalyst is macro trends—the California wealth tax, the Dutch unrealized gains tax, etc. With AI encroaching on wealth taxes, the calls for wealth taxes will gain more attention.

It was overlooked historically for a reason: it used to be a severely inflated and practically unusable currency. To buy it, you had to go through decentralized exchanges, and it had poor scalability, wallet experiences were terrible, and there were no expenditure options. But over the last 18 months, it has broken through all these issues. Now there is focus, better infrastructure, and macro tailwinds. So, look forward, not just at the visible.

Host:In the crypto legend, there are the perfect births of Bitcoin, the perfect first token issuance of Ethereum, the perfect airdrop of Uniswap. Zcash is somewhat like a perfectly forgotten asset—forgotten for over five years, slowly going to zero, then long-term crime. So when I was on the Zcash hype train, I invited Mert and Tushar, two guests I've never asked before, and I felt like many people in the crypto space were embracing this. In fact, probably only Bitcoin maximalists feel uncomfortable with this, as they hate anything non-Bitcoin-related. Zcash's unique positioning allows those who are not extreme Bitcoin maximalists to easily hop aboard without the feeling of tribal warfare. People are quite low-key about Zcash. What do you think?

Mert:I wrote about this about a year ago; it's the last strike in cryptocurrency. When I started talking about it, I found Celestia, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, and even some old Bitcoin supporters agreed with me. This has never happened before. Usually, when I praise Solana, I get criticized, but not with Zcash, except from the Monero community. If you come for the ideals of cryptocurrency, you can almost say with certainty: privacy and one that is severely underestimated as an experiment, others in the privacy projects also support it. This is net positive for the entire ecosystem.

5. Ultimate Defense: The Quantum-Proof Era Surpassing Bitcoin

Host:The last topic is quantum. All blockchains need to cross this quantum barrier. In comparison, everyone knows Bitcoin will not elegantly cross it, due to Satoshi's coin and other reasons. Where does Zcash stand in quantum compared to Bitcoin and other chains?

Mert: Zcash will almost certainly be the first chain to achieve quantum proof. It has now achieved quantum recovery, and the wallet will likely fully support this week. As long as your coins are in a hidden state, quantum attacks are not a problem.

In most protocols, including Bitcoin, it's known that Shor's algorithm can decrypt private keys. But in Zcash's hidden transactions, you can't see the sender, receiver, amount—nothing at all. So collecting now and decrypting later does not apply to Zcash’s vulnerabilities. Monero, on the other hand, could be speculated.

Project Haakon will allow key exchanges to be conducted out-of-band. It is expected that by mid-summer this year, the entire chain will fully implement quantum proof. Zcash was once the sandbox for cryptographers; now that has turned into a massive advantage.

Host: Tushar, Mert, thank you very much for taking the time to explore this argument with me. I love this story. Thank you for coming on the show to help me tell it.

Tushar:Thank you for the invitation.

Mert:Very pleased to be here.

Host: Bankless listeners, you know the rules—cryptocurrency is risky. What you invest may get wiped out. If you invest in Zcash, at least you can keep your privacy. It's not for everyone, but we’re glad you’re joining us on this journey. Thank you all.

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Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SlxfQThrlg