Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of crypto exchange Gemini, made headlines today by backing Zcash (ZEC) as one of the “most important and underrated” crypto projects currently on the market. His statement came via a post on X, in which he emphasized the crucial role of privacy and decentralization in maintaining a “free and open society.”

“Zcash is one of the most important and underrated crypto projects in the world. It brings privacy and decentralization to money, two fundamental building blocks of a free and open society. That’s why I support Shielded Labs and its contributions to Zcash. Go ahead!” Tyler wrote.

Why Zcash is the “most underrated” crypto project

This approval coincides with news from Shielded Labs, an independent Swiss organization dedicated to Zcash, which announced significant organizational changes and development plans on August 8. Zooko Wilcox, known for his role in founding Zcash (ZEC) and the Electric Coin Company (ECC), has joined Shielded Labs as Head of Product and has also taken a seat on the Board of Directors.

Wilcox’s immediate role is to oversee the development of Crosslink, a project focused on transitioning Zcash from a pure Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a hybrid Proof-of-Work/Proof-of-Stake (PoW/PoS) consensus protocol. His leadership is expected to play a key role in Zcash’s strategic planning and fundraising efforts, with significant contributions already pouring in from figures such as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Vitalik Buterin, and the Anoma Foundation, among others.

Wilcox also published a blog post titled “Zcash is Winning,” in which he outlines the philosophical and practical reasons why Zcash is a crucial project in the crypto space, with its focus on privacy as a cornerstone of civil rights and economic freedom. He emphasized the importance of developing Zcash’s technology to ensure it remains a viable and secure form of private money, despite pressure from national governments.

“Zcash enables anyone—anywhere—to privately send, receive, and store money without pressure or coercion from others. Zcash puts complete control over your money in your own hands,” Wilcox emphasized in his post.

Wilcox sees the transition to a hybrid PoW/PoS system as a necessary evolution to maintain the distribution of the currency while alleviating the price pressure caused by the constant creation of coins. This is a model that is based on Bitcoin’s original framework.

“It’s time to upgrade Zcash to (hybrid) Proof-of-Stake. The creation and distribution of ZEC coins through the Proof-of-Work mining algorithm was a necessary first step. (…) It ensured that ZEC flowed far and wide, and invisibly, into the hands of the people who valued it most and were most committed to its long-term mission,” Wilcox noted.

Since Shielded Labs’ announcement, Zcash price has increased by over 35%. However, ZEC is still down over 98% from its all-time high of $3,191 in October 2016. At the time of writing, ZEC was trading at $41.07.

Main image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com