$102,874.00
-0.07%$2,336.91
7.19%$2.35
2.36%$643.00
3.07%$173.12
7.33%$0.999995
-0.01%$0.204684
5.59%$0.776151
2.37%$0.260347
1.39%$2,333.08
7.21%$102,801.00
-0.22%$3.91
-1.72%$15.97
1.33%$2,807.64
7.62%$23.07
5.66%$0.294622
2.26%$0.00001509
6.52%$0.202405
4.67%$24.80
7.81%$3.27
2.59%$408.93
-2.98%$8.75
-1.10%$1.00
0.01%$100.02
6.73%$4.79
8.34%$2,336.34
7.24%$308.12
3.21%$2,492.57
6.94%$4.48
0.03%$0.735909
15.14%$1.001
0.12%$0.00001223
11.75%$102,903.00
-0.04%$1.001
0.11%$30.26
-0.28%$6.30
7.35%$428.48
2.60%$2.89
7.76%$5.51
1.57%$54.15
3.06%$210.10
3.30%$1.006
4.73%$1.051
0.01%$1.00
0.00%$19.13
3.58%$0.101383
3.61%$5.42
4.85%$14.06
13.83%$22.03
0.62%$0.103506
5.61%$33.42
1.93%$4.96
6.35%$0.762855
1.10%$0.02981731
6.13%$4.93
9.00%$0.2507
0.43%$0.823625
7.30%$0.367439
6.94%$1.003
0.27%$102,793.00
0.07%$1.17
0.04%$3.00
3.37%$0.232111
4.35%$3.05
12.10%$4.36
0.07%$0.586996
5.11%$0.375937
5.10%$0.00002166
10.69%$4.53
3.70%$1.14
8.91%$0.541541
15.00%$0.998711
-0.05%$0.972397
-0.28%$1,729.04
2.30%$181.37
7.14%$2,338.26
7.23%$1.41
16.93%$11.13
0.70%$94.16
-0.78%$2,431.77
7.20%$0.02017889
0.91%$0.855903
0.61%$1.97
-3.00%$1.27
0.19%$0.756805
10.56%$0.243876
6.63%$0.079223
3.43%$4.51
7.94%$0.659488
8.16%$102,785.00
0.34%$11.75
6.25%$2,647.75
7.12%$0.999986
0.03%$0.110867
8.51%$0.763252
1.72%$0.0000994
10.08%$643.60
3.20%$0.01456828
6.12%$1.021
9.20%$223.61
7.39%$0.999705
-0.01%$1.001
0.14%$0.898138
8.06%$191.53
7.28%$2,485.69
7.15%$0.0182426
3.76%$0.01941743
10.44%$0.834854
11.46%$102,937.00
-0.08%$2.83
2.22%$3,333.31
0.20%$14.38
-2.26%$41.32
3.41%$0.331659
5.61%$104,655.00
2.19%$102,261.00
1.20%$3,331.57
0.17%$1.00
0.01%$0.235505
2.95%$0.078048
6.90%$0.00000078
3.16%$0.609524
-3.51%$2.32
4.57%$22.56
6.41%$2,445.73
7.03%$0.737976
9.53%$4.03
1.66%$0.195883
29.97%$0.118977
-1.60%$0.433365
6.45%$42.50
1.29%$0.628065
5.92%$0.348239
5.27%$0.695682
10.27%$0.997906
0.02%$2,403.68
5.16%$1.95
1.32%$0.999108
0.04%$3.82
5.69%$0.01842383
-1.84%$0.743337
1.86%$1.11
-0.50%$0.0102424
3.13%$0.00602088
3.26%$0.469645
3.27%$111.00
0.02%$18.95
11.74%$0.490385
5.63%$0.684938
8.86%$0.170625
15.59%$0.205709
6.37%$8.05
6.88%$1.49
8.91%$103,236.00
0.25%$0.52255
12.43%$0.631105
13.08%$2,335.34
7.12%$2,333.80
6.96%$0.19874
-2.97%$0.998565
0.01%$2,484.22
7.06%$1.00
0.04%$102,878.00
0.52%$0.00002406
4.21%$2,389.34
6.51%$0.187581
10.90%$0.065158
0.08%$3.89
10.78%$0.00880362
6.11%$2.86
5.76%$6.54
4.64%$99,566.00
1.62%$0.99994
-0.00%$0.098788
10.11%$1.82
5.41%$1.63
3.75%$0.087855
3.09%$0.04586418
4.55%$0.00000044
2.03%$2,335.30
7.10%$1.096
0.72%$1.012
0.73%$0.625128
6.30%$0.00588932
0.91%$0.25103
0.62%$45.07
4.08%$0.154645
-1.36%$0.00000103
0.80%$102,689.00
0.86%$1.50
-0.13%$0.357633
15.86%$0.405677
1.27%$0.380504
82.26%$0.03794891
3.33%$0.826393
11.32%$0.00439786
3.35%$0.01902917
2.05%$0.998004
-0.13%$32.99
-0.85%$0.00006646
4.40%$0.370214
1.73%$0.850698
4.13%$0.176795
0.69%$2,330.09
7.67%$21.47
-0.56%$2,341.25
7.57%$0.343422
-0.85%$0.00341691
10.33%$130.79
5.81%$2,479.24
7.44%$1.39
2.61%$0.739035
1.93%$0.999861
-0.01%$0.00000161
10.21%$1.19
10.31%$2.94
9.57%$102,869.00
-0.03%$1.002
0.34%$3.95
17.33%$0.261221
7.90%$23.06
5.65%$1.00
0.04%$2,566.05
7.08%$0.0035583
13.32%$1.00
0.02%$0.227054
4.11%$24.74
7.60%$0.537253
-2.83%$2,546.42
7.24%$1.098
-0.09%$0.03534793
1.57%$2,336.45
7.21%$23.90
3.81%$2,517.05
7.10%$17.53
5.38%$0.577066
3.07%$24.73
7.67%$0.285233
4.06%$0.999722
-0.01%$0.999888
-0.05%$0.04043978
6.01%$2,330.36
7.98%$3,327.88
-0.29%$3.38
-2.15%$0.01403777
5.33%$0.00265733
11.32%$0.117443
11.44%$0.00
15.30%Reading
Edward Snowden, the famed National Security Agency whistleblower, helped launch Zcash in 2016, a representative of the Zcash inventors Electric Coin Company told Decrypt.
Snowden joined Zcash creator Zooko Wilcox, Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd, Coin Center's Peter Van Valkenburgh and two others in launching the Zcash blockchain. In a process known as "trusted setup," the six participants each received a sliver of the private key needed to create the cryptocurrency. Previously, the identity of the sixth participant was known by the pseudonym "John Dobbertin."
The culmination of the creation ceremony involved destroying the keys.
"If anybody has access to this key, they could counterfeit Zcash without anybody knowing," Electric Coin Company SVP Josh Swihart told Decrypt. "So what it required was a setup where the key could be generated by six different parties, and if any party was honest and destroyed their part of the key, then it would be safe from counterfeiting."
The news was first reported by Forbes based on a leaked video from Zcash Media of Snowden, in which he discusses the need for a privacy-centric alternative to Bitcoin. "Bitcoin quite famously is an open ledger," he states. "The problem with that is you can't have truly free trade unless you have private trade. And you can't have a free society without free trade."
Edward Snowden gives an extensive interview to Marta Belcher of Filecoin Foundation for Camp Ethereal 2022, taped on February 27. He talks about how governments view crypto as "an evolving threat," how crypto "transforms power relationships," why he thinks Ethereum "suffers from the same privacy problems as Bitcoin," and why he views central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as "crypto-fascist currencies."
Zcash is known as a privacy coin because it harnesses zero-knowledge proofs, a form of cryptography that can be used to verify that a legitimate transaction took place without needing to see the details.
Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since being charged by the U.S. government with espionage in 2013, after he leaked documents about the NSA's surveillance program to the press. Before he could be arrested, Snowden fled to Russia, seeking asylum. He's now a resident.
Despite his involvement in the privacy coin, Snowden reportedly wasn't into Zcash for the cash—and Electric Coin Company says he wasn't given crypto or any other compensation for his involvement.
"He did it as a service, as a public good, and believing in privacy," said Swihart.
Since the early days of the internet, HTTP 402, a payment status code that showed "Payment Required," has existed as a placeholder in web protocols. It was a digital relic that once promised an internet with built-in payment capabilities but was never fully realized. Three decades later, crypto exchange Coinbase, through its Developer Platform, has brought it back to life with x402, a new, open-source protocol that creates a native payment layer for the web. "Imagine a future where crypto is the...
Ethereum has successfully activated the first phase of Pectra, its latest major upgrade since Dencun in March last year, going live at 6:05am ET in New York on Wednesday. Following the hard fork itself, developers faced a nail-biting wait to see if the network had achieved finality, which took place at 6:18am ET. The Pectra hardfork has finalized on #Ethereum! Congratz everyone 🥳🥳 pic.twitter.com/sOwPVN1UOO — beaconchain.eth 📡 (@beaconcha_in) May 7, 2025 Pectra introduces sweeping changes t...
A new layer-1 blockchain focused on privacy and mining accessibility is now live with the launch of Tari mainnet. Led by a group of former Monero developers, Tari’s mainnet follows the network’s testnet launch in September 2024, placing it in a crowded field of layer-1 networks that includes heavyweights like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. But the developers see Tari differently than the pack. “Our hot take: Existing chains are missing key ingredients needed for them to succeed in becoming the...
