Grayscale sees Zcash as potential Bitcoin challenger

Grayscale says Zcash could challenge Bitcoin's dominance among digital assets. Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl said Zcash has second-mover advantages that could help it overcome Bitcoin's entrenched network effects. Pandl said previous alternatives such as Litecoin failed to do so. Zcash can shield transaction information. Grayscale said that capability could become more valuable as artificial intelligence systems analyze financial activity at scale. ZEC has climbed roughly 19-fold over the past year. Zcash remains valued at less than 1% of Bitcoin's market capitalization. Grayscale said Zcash could be valued above $4,000 if its market capitalization reached 5% of Bitcoin's. Pandl said Bitcoin's liquidity and entrenched network remain strong defenses of its dominant position. Grayscale warned that Zcash remains a high-risk investment. Grayscale also warned that further gains could be volatile and uneven. Cypherpunk Technologies acquired a Zcash mining fleet from Winklevoss Capital in a $33.33 million equity-based transaction. The fleet operates across US facilities. It produces about 4.2 GSol/s of Equihash hashrate. That output represents roughly 18% of the Zcash network's total computing power. Cypherpunk said the transaction made its mining arm the network's largest active fleet.