Foundry Expands Beyond Bitcoin With Zcash Mining Pool

Zcash Mining Gets Institutional Boost With Foundry Pool

Digital asset infrastructure provider Foundry Digital is preparing to launch a zcash (ZEC) mining pool in April 2026, marking the company’s first major expansion beyond Bitcoin-focused mining services.

The new pool will operate from the United States and is designed specifically for institutional and publicly traded mining firms that require compliance-ready infrastructure and reporting systems.

Foundry said the platform will be built using the same technical framework that powers Foundry USA Pool, currently one of the largest bitcoin mining pools by global hashrate. The company plans to offer operational features such as institutional-grade reporting tools and structured payout systems, allowing large-scale miners to manage accounting, compliance, and performance tracking more efficiently.

According to Foundry, the Zcash project represents an important balance between privacy and regulatory awareness, noting that financial privacy can coexist with compliance standards when the proper infrastructure is in place.

Zcash, launched in 2016, is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency built on bitcoin’s codebase but enhanced with zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) that allow users to make shielded transactions without publicly revealing wallet addresses or transaction amounts.

Mining pools allow multiple participants to combine computing power to increase the probability of discovering blocks and earning rewards, which are then distributed among contributors.

Interest in ZEC surged during 2025, fueled by endorsements and commentary from prominent crypto figures. The renewed attention helped drive the token’s price up nearly 600% over the past year, although the asset has since retraced significantly from its late-2025 highs.

Despite renewed attention around the asset, zcash mining remains concentrated among a few dominant pools. Data from Poolbay shows ViaBTC controlling 32.5% of the network’s hashrate, followed by F2Pool at about 18.7%, with smaller shares distributed across platforms such as 2Miners (7.4%) and Antpool (4.8%).

The announcement also arrives shortly after Zcash Open Development Lab raised more than $25 million to expand development of privacy-focused tools and wallets within the ecosystem.

For Foundry, the new mining pool represents both a diversification strategy and a potential catalyst for strengthening the Zcash network by bringing institutional-scale hashrate into the ecosystem.

FAQ⚡

• What is Foundry Digital launching?
Foundry plans to launch a Zcash mining pool in April 2026, designed for institutional and publicly traded crypto mining companies.

• Why does this matter for Zcash?
The new pool could introduce additional institutional mining power, helping decentralize the network’s hashrate and strengthen overall security.

• Where will the mining pool operate?
The pool will be based in the United States, aligning with Foundry’s compliance-focused infrastructure model.

• Which regions could benefit from this development?
Institutional mining firms across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific crypto hubs may gain easier access to compliant Zcash mining infrastructure.