Zcash Gains Spotlight as SEC Invites Founder to Key Dec. 15 Privacy Roundtable
Zcash gains fresh momentum as the SEC invites founder Zooko Wilcox to its Dec. 15 privacy roundtable, fueling debate over crypto...
Quick overview
- The SEC has invited Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox to discuss privacy and financial surveillance at a roundtable on December 15, signaling a shift in regulatory attitudes towards privacy in finance.
- The event reflects a growing recognition of the need for structured privacy frameworks rather than blanket bans, which many in the industry have been advocating for.
- Debates around privacy in cryptocurrency are intensifying, with discussions on the implications of adding privacy features to Bitcoin and the potential for compromise through mechanisms like 'viewing keys.'
- Institutional interest in Zcash is increasing, highlighted by Grayscale's application for a Zcash ETF and Reliance Global Group's transition to using Zcash for its digital vault.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has done something unusual: it has invited Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox to share his thoughts on privacy and financial surveillance at a roundtable on December 15. This sets up a big moment – a major player in the privacy space is going straight to a regulatory forum – and it’s happening at a time when lawmakers are trying to figure out how to balance making things transparent with actually keeping users safe.
The event, hosted by the SEC’s Crypto Task Force and broadcast live for anyone to tune in, says a lot about Washington’s changing approach to handling all this.
They’re starting to think about putting in place some clear frameworks for structured privacy, rather than just slapping on a blanket ban – and that’s something a lot of people in the industry have been waiting for.
A Major Turning Point in the Privacy Debate
Privacy isn’t some weird fringe idea anymore. Even traditional finance companies and major blockchain networks have started investing heavily in tech that helps keep things private. Paxos and Aleo just announced a partnership to build a new stablecoin that will comply with all the rules, and the Ethereum Foundation even set up a whole new department dedicated to getting good at this sort of thing around the same time.
Still, there are some strong disagreements.
Zcash co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson just spilled the beans on a debate he had with MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, who warned that if you add Zcash-style privacy to Bitcoin, you’re basically making the whole network more vulnerable to governments trying to shut it down.
Ben-Sasson shot back that, actually, there’s a compromise to be had – using what are called “viewing keys” that let you pick and choose when to spill the beans and keep the rest of your business to yourself.
This really gets to a deeper question: can you even have a system that’s open and free without some real level of privacy built in?
The Privacy Debate is Spilling Out to Social Media
And this debate isn’t just happening in the echo chamber of crypto stuff – it’s spilling out onto social media. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley waded into the debate on Twitter in November to point out that it’s pretty weird that people who insist Bitcoin has no privacy seem so quick to dismiss Zcash, which actually uses some pretty advanced cryptography. Meanwhile, Naomi Brockwell, a big advocate for privacy, said that hostility towards confidentiality is often a pretty early sign that a system is moving in a terrible direction. This kind of thing helped push Zcash to $700 in November, even though the market still has a lot of ups and downs.
Institutional Money is Starting to Get More Serious About Zcash
Despite Zcash dropping back a bit to around $340 on December 5, it’s still way up from where it was in late November. But more importantly, some of the huge players are becoming increasingly interested.
The Grayscale folks have put in an application to turn their Zcash Trust into the first US-based spot Zcash ETF – that would put it alongside all the other mainstream investment products that you can buy and sell.
They already have a stash of 2.4% of ZEC in the trust as of September last year.
Meanwhile, Reliance Global Group has just shifted its entire digital vault to Zcash, and the head of VanEck went on the record, saying Zcash is a good alternative to Bitcoin if you’re worried about Bitcoin’s long-term prospects.
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