Shielded Labs has received 3221 ZEC from the founders of the Gemini exchange. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss directed the assets, valued at approximately $1.16 M, to support the network’s core development. The grant comes amid serious structural changes within the project’s ecosystem.
Where the Money Will Go
Shielded Labs, which counts Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox among its contributors, focuses on engineering tasks. The organization operates autonomously, relies on donations, and remains independent of automatic block reward allocations.
The fresh capital will be distributed across key protocol updates.
The goal of these updates is to boost the blockchain’s security, scalability, and economic resilience. Tyler Winklevoss emphasized that a healthy ecosystem requires multiple independent teams working on the protocol. Cameron added that the brothers support the project because they view privacy as an essential property of money.
Context: Split and Accumulation
The funding arrived immediately following a corporate conflict within the Electric Coin Company (ECC), which has historically led Zcash’s development. Earlier this month, a group of developers left the ECC following a dispute with the board and launched their own entity.
In parallel, the departed cryptographers introduced a new wallet, confirming a trend toward development decentralization — the fate of the code is no longer decided by a single firm.
Regulatory clarity also adds a positive note: the Zcash Foundation recently announced that the SEC has closed a multi-year investigation into the organization. This removed the project’s toxic status as a potential regulatory target.
The Winklevoss interest in Zcash is backed by capital. Previously, the investment firm Cypherpunk, associated with the brothers, increased its ZEC reserves by $29 M. The holding company now controls nearly 2% of the asset’s entire circulating supply.
At the time of publication, ZEC is trading at the $359 level.
Read also:
- What are privacy coins and how do they differ from regular cryptocurrencies?
- Vitalik Buterin Grants Privacy Messengers Session and SimpleX
- Cypherpunk Technologies Boosts Zcash Stake to 1.76% of Supply and Targets 5%
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