Grayscale: Zcash's privacy features may become a necessity in the AI era, with a potential value increase of 9 times if market share rises to 5%

The Grayscale Zcash research report points out that as AI development brings new means of financial monitoring, Zcash's privacy features may become a necessary function in the AI era. Zcash achieves shielded transactions through zero-knowledge proofs, hiding the sender, receiver, and amount, possessing cash-like privacy attributes. Currently, shielded transactions account for about 90% of the transaction volume, with approximately 4.2 million ZEC shielded (accounting for 25% of the circulating supply).

Grayscale notes that Zcash has a market capitalization of about $8 billion, which only accounts for 0.6% of its category "currency-type crypto assets" (total market capitalization of $1.4 trillion). If this category's share reaches 5%, the value of ZEC would be nine times its current value. The report believes that the market's current valuation of Zcash reflects the assumption that "privacy will remain marginalized," and if investors ultimately believe that privacy should receive a moderate premium, the current valuation may be underestimated. In terms of risks, the report mentions long-term risks such as regulation and quantum computing, but believes that Zcash's shielding technology and selective disclosure tools provide a pathway for compliance.