Invest ideasNews
11 May 2026, 19:27
Ondo Bridges Tokenized Stocks to Hyperliquid via LayerZero
On Monday, Ondo Finance announced that its users will now be able to transfer tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs to Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM by using the Ondo Bridge supported by LayerZero. With this integration, users will be able to transfer assets from Ethereum and BNB Chain to HyperEVM, including more than 35 tokenized assets such as SPYon, QQQon, NVDAon, TSLAon, GOOGLon, CRCLon, SLVon, NFLXon, BABAon, COPXon, UNGon, PPLTon, and PALLon. This new bridge will allow traders on Hyperliquid to use real tokenized spot stock positions as collateral alongside perpetual futures contracts. On May 11, Ondo Finance announced the integration of the LayerZero bridge to transact Ondo Finance tokenized stocks on HyperEVM, revealing their focus on the booming tokenized stock sector. Ondo Finance Integrates LayerZero Bridge Despite Bizarre Incident In the latest announcement, Ondo Finance revealed that their tokenized stocks are now available to transfer from BNB Chain and Ethereum to Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM by using the Ondo Bridge, which is powered by LayerZero. This integration will allow users to access tokenized stocks and ETFs on Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM, including SPYon, QQQon, NVDAon, TSLAon, GOOGLon, CRCLon, SLVon, NFLXon, BABAon, COPXon, UNGon, PPLTon, and PALLon. Ondo Finance is a leading Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization platform that brings tokenized assets from traditional finance to a decentralized ecosystem. Hyperliquid is one of the biggest decentralized perpetual exchanges, and its HIP-4 event contract has recently created a record after hitting $6.2 million in nominal trading volume on the debut day. In the official announcement , the platform stated that, “ Rather than recreating fragmented on-chain liquidity, Ondo tokenized stocks and ETFs tap into the depth of traditional equity markets. Pricing is derived from underlying listings on venues such as NYSE and Nasdaq, with execution designed to remain consistent and efficient across market conditions. ” These tokenized stocks and ETFs provide the same liquidity as the traditional world for the selected traders on Hyperliquid. These on-chain investment products are allowing investors to integrate advanced strategies like capital-efficient portfolio hedging . This kind of strategy allows traders to mitigate their losses during the downward trend in the financial market. Although Hyperliquid is not the only protocol for trading Ondo Finance’s tokenized stocks, as there are many protocols that have recently integrated the same service, including Felix and Melt . Felix is already offering more than 260 tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds to its users. LayerZero’s Latest Exploitation Raises Security Concerns The announcement of the integration ot LayerZero powered bridge is coming amid the recent security incident on LayerZero. In the bizarre cyber attack linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, Kelp DAO faced an exploitation of approximately $292 million after its LayerZero bridge was compromised in the sophisticated attack. This is one more example that shows the vulnerability present in the cross-chain bridges, which makes it a soft target for hackers around the world. The cyber attack on the Kelp DAO has created panic in the DeFi world, wiping out more than $13 billion from the ecosystem right after the attack took place. This attack on Kelp DAO has created turbulence in the entire crypto market, as many lending protocols were experiencing intense withdrawals of funds, creating an imbalance in the lending pool. This DeFi attack on the bridge has created bad debt in the DeFi market. Boom In Tokenized Stocks Amid New Regulatory Guidelines Tokenized stocks and ETFs are similar to traditional company shares or funds, which are converted into digital tokens through a process of tokenization on the blockchain. While it works in the same manner as a traditional stock, it has some different features, like instant settlement. The demand for these tokenized stocks has grown impressively in the last few months, including stocks and ETFs. According to the on-chain data, tokenized equities are slowly heading towards $1 billion in market value in 2026. Ondo Finance is one of the popular platforms, which currently holds around $935 million in tokenized equities total value locked (TVL), along with cumulative trading volume. It is holding a large share of the tokenized stocks market. In June 2025, Kraken announced the launch of xStocks. This is the tokenized stock platform that currently offers more than 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs. At present, the platform is handling more than $25 billion in total transaction volume. The platform is also planning to expand to more than 500 assets by the end of this year. One of the major factors behind the boom in tokenized stocks is the growing regulatory clarity. Earlier this year, the U.S. SEC revealed the new guideline where the agency confirmed that tokenized stocks and ETFs are securities under the existing law, and their issuance on the blockchain does not change the rules. After this clarification from the SEC, many companies are planning to integrate tokenized stocks. Recently, Nasdaq and NYSE have recently recieved approvals for pilot programs that allow trading for tokenized versions of popular stocks and ETFs, including stocks available on the S&P 500. Many major financial institutions are also rushing to adopt the concept of tokenization , including major names like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, JPMorgan, etc. Apart from this, some traditional exchanges are also planning to launch tokenized products. Some Traditional Groups Are Opposing the Concept of Tokenized Stocks While many companies are planning to integrate new innovations like tokenized stocks, its critics are raising questions about investors’ protection. Also, these traditional trading organizations are saying that a tokenized market might divide liquidity. SIFMA and other groups have urged regulators to take a careful approach in the adoption of tokenized investment products. SIFMA stated in the official post that “ SIFMA and its members strongly support innovation in the securities markets. However, the adoption and potential benefits of tokenized securities markets rests on ensuring that they are subject to the same fundamental investor protection and market integrity principles that have helped make the U.S. securities markets the largest and deepest in the world.” Also Read: Crypto Market Rally as ETF Inflows Fuel BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL Gains
11 May 2026, 19:16
CoinShares Could Have Significant Upside Potential
Summary CoinShares PLC began trading on NASDAQ in the U.S. on April 1, 2026. CSHR is Danny Master’s brainchild, and it has been on the cutting edge of creating digital assets and blockchain technology products. The 2025 earnings reflect growth and consistent profitability. CSHR will likely trade with the cryptocurrency market’s market cap. Lots of upside potential and a potential takeover candidate at below a $1 billion market cap. According to the company’s website , CoinShares PLC ( CSHR ) was created in 2013, “ to focus on cryptocurrencies by high profiles from leading financial institutions .” Daniel Masters, a co-founder and currently CSHR’s executive chairman, has a long history in markets. He was an oil trader at Shell, J.P. Morgan, and Phibro. He founded a successful hedge fund, Global Advisors, and he took an early interest in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC-USD), which today trades around $80,000 per token, down from over $126,000 in October 2025, traded in a range of $13.29 to $1,135.45 per token in 2013. While Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have experienced boom-and-bust price action since 2013, early supporters like Danny Masters; Rus Newton, an early CSHR investor and partner in Global Advisors; and the company’s CEO, Jean-Marie Mognetti, have been on the cutting edge of the asset class. CSHR shares only began trading in the U.S. a few weeks ago. After an initial decline from the first trading day high, the shares will likely begin to correlate with the cryptocurrency asset class. After a substantial correction and price consolidation, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have resumed bullish trends, continuing the boom-and-bust price action of recent years. I worked with Danny Master and Rus Newton at Phibro and for a brief stint at Global Advisors. I can attest to their vast experience, insightful market approach, and extremely successful track record. As the leading shareholders of CSHR, I believe CoinShares will continue to provide them with the most significant rewards of their long and successful careers. I rate CSHR a buy, and am proud to say that I am long CSHR shares. CSHR began trading on NASDAQ in the U.S. on April 1, 2026 CoinShares PLC was uplisted to NASDAQ Stockholm in 2022 and serves as a launchpad for its 2026 listing on the U.S. NASDAQ. CoinShares PLC began trading on NASDAQ on April 1, 2026. Daily Chart of CSHR Shares Since the U.S. NASDAQ IPO (Barchart) The daily chart shows that CSHR opened at $8.72 on April 1, rose to a high of $10.43, and, like many IPOs, corrected sharply to a $4.72 per share low on April 10. Since then, CSHR has made higher lows and was above the $6 level on May 11, 2026. CSHR is Danny Master’s brainchild and is on the cutting edge of creating digital asset and blockchain tech products While the founders created CoinShares in 2013, the shares were not listed on NASDAQ Stockholm until 2022 and NASDAQ in the U.S. until April 2026. An October 2020 Forbes interview with Danny Masters goes a long way to understanding the company’s genesis. A few highlights of the interview were his discovery of Bitcoin and its potential: Then one day I was sitting at my desk, watching CNBC, when I saw a price chart for bitcoin on the screen. I studied it closely, kind of how a doctor looks at an MRI, and thought to myself that this is a very energetic chart. The price had gone from a fraction of a penny to something like $15. For a commodities trader that type of movement sets off alarm bells and money signs flash in front of your eyes. When commenting on the future of finance in 2020, Masters told Forbes: I think the old world is lumpy in the sense that the fractionalization of assets is much more cumbersome than in the digital world. It is getting better with shares sometimes, but gold and real estate aren’t really fractionable. So, it’s lumpy and over intermediated. You buy an ETF; I can give you 12 service providers between you and your asset that aren’t really necessary. The old world is also heavily centralized, which stifles innovation because you can’t just get inside that wall and change anything. There is a migration taking place to the new world of capital, talent and even regulatory mindset. For example, people need to stop worrying that every single bitcoin transaction is fostering some kind of terrorist activity, which it isn’t. This migration started slowly, but it is happening faster now. The place we are getting to will be the tokenization of everything, and it will be catalyzed when central banks figure this out. In her maiden speech, Christine Lagard (president of the European Central Bank), spent 15 minutes talking about stablecoins. If everyone’s got a digital wallet and CBDCs, which aren’t backed by anything anyway, are de rigueur, then all of a sudden bitcoin looks great. It will assume the role that gold served with regards to legacy money, and all the other digital assets will fall into place. The middle layer—the services layer—will become much more automated, technological and democratic, and the endpoint layer will become a real fight. Six years later, CSHR is trading on NASDAQ with a market cap of over $785 million. Bitcoin’s pre-October 2020 high was $19,862 per token; it traded at over six times that level in October 2025. Over that period, CoinShares PLC launched physical ETPs in 2021, was listed on NASDAQ Stockholm in 2022, and acquired Valkyrie in 2024, a specialized digital asset investment management firm that bridges traditional finance and the cryptocurrency sector. In 2026, CSHR’s listing on the technology-heavy NASDAQ indicates it has cleared a significant hurdle. CSHR’s business and products include a suite of passive and actively managed ETFs that offer seamless, flexible exposure to the digital asset landscape. Services include robust, transparent indices that span the gulf between traditional and digital asset investing, covering equities, cryptocurrencies, and gold. The company’s capital markets team provides trading technology and support services to its main business lines and performs the treasury management function for the CoinShares group. CSHR also provides cutting-edge research, insights, and educational guides. The 2025 earnings reflect growth - Consistent profitability On May 5, 2026, CSHR reported its first results following the completion of Vine Hill Capital Investment Corp. and its NASDAQ listing. Vine Hill Capital is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company ((SPAC)). CSHR reported 2025 revenue of $165.7 million, which was 6.5% higher year-on-year. Gross AUM was $7.4 billion, with segment EBITDA of $131.3 million, up 5.4% year-on-year. Full earnings details are available through the May 5 press release . Revenues have been trending upward. CSHR Revenues and Revenue Forecast (Seeking Alpha) EPS has also been trending positive since Q3 2024. CSHR Quarterly Earnings Per Share (Seeking Alpha) CSHR will likely trade with the cryptocurrency market’s market cap I expect that CSHR will settle into a trading pattern that correlates with Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market cap that stood at $2.70 trillion on May 11, 2026. Other cryptocurrency-related platforms, such as Coinbase, cryptocurrency miners such as RIOT and MARA, and other cryptocurrency and blockchain-related companies have traded higher and lower with the leading cryptocurrency and the asset class’s market cap over the past few years. CSHR’s company profile states: CSHR Company Profile (Seeking Alpha) At over $6 per share, CSHR had a market cap of $785.61 million. CSHR trades an average of nearly 730,000 shares per day, making it a liquid stock. Lots of upside potential and a potential takeover candidate under a $1 billion market cap While CSHR shares are still settling after the company’s April 1 IPO, it is a unique business in a unique asset class. Since its creation in 2013, CSHR’s growth and product suite reflect the founders’ and management’s flexibility in the burgeoning asset class. Acceptance of cryptocurrencies and digital assets has grown to the point that traditional financial institutions are now allowing their clients to participate. While future earnings will dictate the company’s market cap, CSHR is positioned to grow with the asset class and could be a very attractive candidate for highly capitalized financial institutions, technology companies, or leading cryptocurrency and other exchange platforms. I rate CSHR a buy at its current price. I have full confidence that the founders and management team will continue to grow the business, leading to increasing revenues and earnings that will send the shares appreciably higher over the coming years.
11 May 2026, 19:15
SIGMA bot blamed as attacker drains $200K from trader's wallets
Crypto trader and X personality Unihax0r lost +$200,000 on May 11 after someone drained two of his wallets across Ethereum, Base, and BSC. On-chain analysts think it was a private key leak linked to a Telegram trading bot. “Just got drained or hacked for more than 200k. Sick to my stomach,” Unihax0r posted on X. He shared the attacker’s wallet address and asked people to help trace the funds. Attacker swept three chains in under an hour This wasn’t a smart contract exploit since there’s no malicious token approval. On-chain analyst @k0braca1 looked at the transactions right after it happened and said it looked like a private key leak. The attacker “had full control over signing operations across multiple chains: Ethereum, Base and BSC.” The drain took somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes. The biggest chunks were about $125,000 in $POD tokens on Base and $21,000 in $FHE on BSC, plus ETH and smaller positions. The attacker even sent a bit of ETH to the Ethereum wallet first to cover gas for sweeping the remaining token balances. Hey bro, sorry this happened to you. My quick assessment of what happened. The exploit looks like a private key leak rather than related to any malicious transactions, as the attacker has full control over signing operations across multiple chains: Ethereum, Base and BSC. It… — kc (@k0braca1) May 11, 2026 SIGMA bot was the common thread Both crypto wallets that got drained were created via a Telegram multichain trading bot called SIGMA. Unihax0r imported those wallets into GMGN, which is another Telegram trading tool, and Rabby Wallet. Other wallets on Rabby and Jupiter were not drained since the SIGMA bot did not create them. This means that the SIGMA trading bot is the probable cause of this attack. Investigators in the community have come up with a few ideas about what caused the theft of secret keys: Telegram phishing through fake CAPTCHA bots that pop up when you use SIGMA. Malware or infostealer infections. Device compromise. Malicious browser extensions. Unihax0r said he checked his Telegram account and found no suspicious sessions, per Crypto Times. The stolen crypto went to an externally owned account that the attacker controls. The stolen crypto was transferred to an external wallet owned by the attacker. On-chain data shows the stolen tokens are already being mixed by the attacker. Most of the assets are still sitting in the attacker’s wallets on Base. Community members and fraud tracking accounts have offered to help trace funds, but the odds of getting the money back are low. Telegram bots are a structural weak point Crypto losses connected to Telegram trading bots keep piling up. When a user generates wallets through Telegram bots, the private keys get created and stored within the bot’s infrastructure. Security researchers from ForkLog warned about using Telegram bots to trade crypto. They explained that Telegarm bots “could potentially lead to asset losses and are not safeguarded against hacker attacks.” Telegram bot scams have been ramping up. Web3 anti-scam platform ScamSniffer said Telegram group malware scams jumped by 2,000% between November 2024 and January 2025. Attackers use fake verification bots and phony group invitations to push malware that can access wallets and browser data. Last September, Banana Gun, which is one of the most active Telegram trading bots, had 36 wallets exploited for 536 ETH. That was ~$1.9 million at the time. The bot went offline after that. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .
11 May 2026, 19:06
XRP Price Prediction: South Korean Market Sends XRP Above $1.45 Resistance
XRP price is trading at $1.45 with a 24-hour gain of more than 2%, as crypto prediction turns bullish. For XRP, the catalyst behind the move is not what most expected. Upbit, a South Korean exchange, could be the trigger for its spot price, with order-flow data showing XRP volume surpassing BTC, ETH, and even USDT. XRP dominates South Korea’s biggest exchange. $XRP is now the #1 traded asset on Upbit by 24H volume surpassing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. Korean retail demand for XRP continues to stand out globally. https://t.co/rJzGwkXl27 pic.twitter.com/LKxEEY8oCj — Xaif Crypto (@Xaif_Crypto) May 11, 2026 Simultaneously, Coinbase has accumulated nearly 15 million XRP via a time-weighted average price (TWAP) strategy. It’s a methodical accumulation pattern for institutional positioning, far away from retail speculation. Add JPMorgan’s recent settlement of tokenized treasuries on the XRP Ledger on top of that, and the bullish case starts building its own momentum. JPMORGAN AMONG OTHERS TO USE XRP LEDGER FOR TOKENIZED TREASURYS JPMorgan, Ripple, Mastercard and Ondo completed a cross-border redemption of tokenized US Treasuries on the XRP Ledger. The tokenized asset moved on public blockchain rails, while the dollar payout still settled… pic.twitter.com/OaYv6ZSEQ2 — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) May 10, 2026 Discover: The best pre-launch token sales XRP Price Prediction: Break $1.50 and Target $2.80 XRP is consolidating in a band with a 24-hour range of $1.42 low to $1.50 high, and the setup looks increasingly like coiled energy. Support at $1.40 has been held on multiple tests. Resistance clusters at $1.50, the persistent ceiling that needs a decisive close above to validate the next leg higher. The Coinbase TWAP accumulation of 15 million XRP matters here. Institutional buyers don’t deploy TWAP strategies unless they expect a protracted move; they’re building size without moving the market against themselves. That’s a bullish structural signal. Xrp (XRP) 24h 7d 30d 1y All time Analyst models have revised targets sharply upward following JPMorgan’s XRPL settlement and potential CLARITY Act progress, with the bull-case scenario sitting at $2.80 on projected ETF inflows. If XRP close above $1.50 on volume, Upbit selling stays subdued, and institutional accumulation continues, its price could open a path toward $2.80. Institutional adoption trends remain structurally supportive, but the Upbit concentration risk is real. Traders tracking regional exchange flows now have an edge that the broader market lacks. Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with LiquidChain Could be The Play as XRP Tests Critical Resistance XRP’s $2.80 bull target is compelling, but at a current market cap already measured in tens of billions, the percentage upside is bounded. Early-stage infrastructure plays operate on a different return curve entirely. That asymmetry is exactly where LiquidChain is positioning its presale. LiquidChain is a Layer 3 blockchain designed to solve the fragmentation problem that costs DeFi traders real money every day, a disconnected liquidity across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The architecture fuses all three ecosystems into a single execution environment: unified liquidity pools, verifiable cross-chain settlement, and a Solana-class VM for real-time DeFi execution. The final layer emerges. LiquidChain is the future. ⟁ https://t.co/vqvBcdSQYC pic.twitter.com/gAhIyFxdXV — LiquidChain (@getliquidchain) May 10, 2026 With Liquid, developers only need to deploy once and access users across all three chains simultaneously. It offers a meaningful unlock for dApp builders currently forced to choose. The presale is live at $0.01458 per $LIQUID, with $750K raised to date, and an added 1500% APY on staking bonus only for early presalers. Features include a Unified Liquidity Layer, Single-Step Execution, and Deploy-Once Architecture. Security audit by crypto security benchmark, Certik, is also included. Traders monitoring XRP’s breakout window may want to research LiquidChain’s presale terms while current pricing holds. The post XRP Price Prediction: South Korean Market Sends XRP Above $1.45 Resistance appeared first on Cryptonews .
11 May 2026, 19:02
Analyst to XRP Traders: This Move Could Retire the Whole Family Bloodline If It Happens
Crypto analyst JD (@jaydee_757) believes XRP could be approaching another major cycle move if one technical signal confirms on the higher time horizon chart. In a recent post, JD said an RSI crossover on XRP may open the door to a powerful continuation rally that could send its price toward the green target zone shown on his chart. The chart focuses on XRP’s 2-week structure going back more than a decade. JD compared the current setup to previous cycle bottoms that formed before major rallies in 2017 and 2021. Each historical bottom appeared near long-term RSI support before the RSI crossed above its moving average. XRP later produced explosive upside moves after those confirmations. JD now believes the market may be entering a similar phase again. According to him, repeating this move could “retire the whole family bloodline within a YEAR instead of waiting 2–3 years!” If RSI crosses above and HOLDS its Moving Average on $XRP The move to the GREEN BOX could retire the whole family bloodline within a YEAR instead of waiting 2–3 years! Ignore the hype, “utility,” and partnership that REKT you! TA is how we get RICHER! RT for updates! pic.twitter.com/PqStg9mKp4 — JD (@jaydee_757) May 10, 2026 XRP RSI Structure Mirrors Prior Cycle Setups The chart highlights several repeating formations across XRP’s long-term history. JD marked cycle bottoms with orange circles near RSI lows. Yellow boxes identify bullish crosses when the RSI historically crossed above its moving average. According to the chart, those signals arrived shortly before strong upward expansions. The current setup sits near another possible crossover point. On the price chart, XRP continues to hold above a rising long-term trendline that stretches back to the 2020 cycle bottom. At the same time, XRP experienced a notable increase in late 2024 , breaking above a descending resistance line that had capped price action for years. JD also pointed to a smaller consolidation pattern forming near the current range. XRP has traded within a falling wedge since its peak in July 2025 , and the imminent resolution adds to the bullish sentiment. The Green Target Zone JD’s chart projects a large upside path into a green target box positioned well above XRP’s current price. The projection appears to place XRP in the double-digit range if the historical structure repeats. The chart does not provide a specific target level. However, the green zone is near the upper section of the logarithmic scale ($9 and $14). The analyst also makes traders focus on technical analysis rather than market narratives. Momentum indicators are improving across several higher-horizon XRP charts. The current RSI position now places the next crossover attempt in focus as traders watch whether XRP can maintain support and continue building toward another expansion phase. Disclaimer : This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses. Follow us on X , Facebook , Telegram , and Google News The post Analyst to XRP Traders: This Move Could Retire the Whole Family Bloodline If It Happens appeared first on Times Tabloid .
11 May 2026, 19:00
Zcash Is Up 1,500% And Its Biggest Backer Says This Is Why
Zcash’s sharp revival did not happen by accident, according to Josh Swihart, who argues that ZEC’s roughly 1,500% rally reflects a multi-year reset across governance, product strategy, narrative positioning and organizational structure. In a detailed update, Swihart framed Zcash’s recent strength as the result of hard decisions made in 2023 and 2024 that are now compounding across the ecosystem. Three years ago, Swihart said , Zcash had strong cryptography but weak momentum. ZEC was trading around $30, less than 11% of supply was shielded, and community discussion was dominated by governance disputes. Today, he said, ZEC is around $600, roughly 31% of supply is shielded, more than $3 billion in value is held in user-controlled shielded wallets, and shielded transactions reached 86.5% in mid-March. “Nothing happens by chance,” Swihart wrote. “Here were the unlocks and why growth is accelerating.” Governance Reset Becomes Central To The Zcash Story Swihart’s first explanation centers on governance. For Zcash’s first eight years, 20% of every block reward went to the same core institutions, later including Zcash Community Grants. In his view, that created an incumbency problem: organizations had guaranteed funding while also holding significant influence over protocol direction. That changed in 2024, when Electric Coin Co. announced it would not accept direct funding. Swihart said the decision forced the legacy model to break. Network Upgrade 6 then cut direct funding and redirected 8% to Zcash Community Grants, while sending 12% into a protocol-controlled lockbox intended for ZEC holders to retroactively distribute grants to contributors delivering measurable value. Both streams expire at the end of the third halving in late 2028 unless renewed by overwhelming community consensus. The trademark issue also mattered. Swihart said ECC’s August 2024 notice to terminate the trademark agreement, followed by the Zcash Foundation’s decision not to use the trademark for governance, ended a structure in which ECC and ZF held effective veto power over the protocol. “The stranglehold on Zcash governance was broken, and coin holders and other groups across the ecosystem were able to be heard,” he wrote. “No single body, including the ZF’s ZCAP, has a monopoly on determining community sentiment. Zcash was finally set free.” Zodl And Shielded Usage Put Product Back In Focus The second shift was product. Swihart said ECC reoriented in January 2024 toward user adoption after years in which technical work produced strong privacy infrastructure but limited user growth. By 2023, he said, the community was contracting, X sentiment was heavily negative or neutral, and a ZURE survey showed ZEC holders had an NPS score of -60. Zashi, later rebranded as Zodl , became the clearest expression of that shift. The wallet launched in March 2024 with shielded-by-default usage, hardware wallet support and token swaps. Swihart said shielded supply rose from about 11% to about 30% by the end of 2025, a more than 400% increase in absolute ZEC terms, while the wallet processed more than $600 million in ZEC swaps since October. He emphasized that this activity was not simply exchange inventory or passive treasury accumulation. “These are real people choosing privacy and holding their own keys,” Swihart wrote. Swihart also argued that Zcash had a narrative problem. The “privacy coin” label, he said, placed ZEC into a category associated with delistings, regulatory scrutiny and institutional hesitation, while obscuring the actual proposition: opt-in shielded payments, Bitcoin-style monetary policy and verifiable private transactions. He said the new framing around “unstoppable private money” has made ZEC more legible to allocators and infrastructure providers. Swihart cited Robinhood’s listing, Multicoin disclosing a position, Grayscale’s ETF filing and Foundry launching a Zcash mining pool as examples of wider access and institutional engagement. ZODL Raises $25 Million As Scaling And Quantum Work Advance The organizational reset came in January 2026, when Swihart said the ECC team left to form Zcash Open Development Lab, or ZODL, after a dispute with Bootstrap’s board. He argued that Zcash needed startup-style capital and speed to build consumer products at scale. ZODL has since closed a $25 million round backed by Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Cypherpunk Technologies, Chapter One, Balaji Srinivasan and others. Swihart described the round as a strong signal for the team’s mission to scale Zcash adoption. Near-term priorities now include UX, scalability and post-quantum readiness . Swihart said Zodl is working on better performance, more swap options, on- and offboarding, in-app coin-holder polling and requested user features. On scalability, Zcash is targeting 25-second block times, down from 75 seconds, while Tachyon aims to restructure the protocol around stateless wallets carrying recursive zero-knowledge proofs. “Net, Zcash will be faster, easier to use, more feature-rich, more scalable, and post-quantum secure,” Swihart concluded. At press time, ZEC traded at $570.36.
