Foundry launches US-based, compliance-first Zcash mining pool capturing about one-third of the network’s hashrate

Foundry Digital, operator of the Foundry USA Bitcoin mining pool, has launched an institutional-grade Zcash mining pool that has rapidly grown to about 30% of the Zcash network’s hashrate, consolidating a substantial share of new ZEC issuance under a U.S.-regulated operator. The Rochester, New York-based firm says the pool is designed to provide institutional miners with exposure to a privacy-focused asset while maintaining compliance requirements.

Launch and hashrate growth

In a Business Wire release, Foundry said the Zcash pool reached roughly 30% of the current Zcash network hashrate since it was first announced on March 11. The company attributed the growth to sustained hashrate increases and said multiple institutional mining customers have already been onboarded and contributing hashrate.

Compliance-focused positioning

Foundry said the pool is aimed at professional mining organizations and public companies that require a U.S.-based, compliance-ready partner. The company highlighted KYC verification aligned with its institutional standards and said the pool mirrors the governance approach of its Bitcoin operation.

Foundry CEO Mike Colyer described the move as both a bet on Zcash and a response to unmet institutional demand. He said Zcash has matured into an institutional-grade asset, but the mining infrastructure supporting it has not kept pace, adding that the new pool is built to meet the operational and compliance needs of institutional and public miners.

Pool features and operational details

A CoinMarketCap summary of the launch states that the pool will include know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks, transparent payout calculations, reporting tools, and 24/7 technical support. The pool also reportedly has no minimum hashrate requirement to join.

How Zcash works and why it matters for institutions

Zcash, launched in 2016, uses zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to support shielded transactions that conceal sender, receiver, and amount while enabling selective disclosure to auditors or regulators. Foundry and other commentators have argued that this “privacy with a view key” model is more compatible with institutional compliance than fully opaque systems such as Monero, which lack native mechanisms for selective transparency.

Centralization concerns and broader mining concentration

The rapid uptake of a U.S. pool holding around one-third of Zcash’s hashrate also raises centralization questions. Unfolded and other mining trackers have previously indicated that Foundry USA already coordinates about 30% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate. Mempool.space data cited in the coverage shows the pool averaging more than 340 exahashes per second on Bitcoin.

With the Zcash operation quickly capturing around one-third of ZEC issuance, the influence over block production becomes more concentrated within a single corporate group, even as Foundry positions its role as supporting decentralization of Bitcoin’s hashrate by anchoring North American capacity.

Implications for Zcash’s institutional strategy

For Zcash, the trade-off described in the coverage is that institutional capital and hashpower are entering through a U.S.-regulated gateway that reinforces the project’s compliance-oriented framing, but also contributes to a more concentrated mining landscape. The article links this strategy to a broader regulatory tightening in the U.S., EU, and Hong Kong affecting stablecoins, exchanges, and tokenized assets, arguing that privacy with selective disclosure—paired with mining infrastructure built for auditors rather than cypherpunks—is intended to support long-term relevance.