Zcash mining activity has risen more than 2.5 times in 2026 as stronger $ZEC prices have pushed estimated revenue per megawatt-hour to about four times the level generated by Bitcoin miners.
Zcash mining returns have outpaced Bitcoin per machine
Grayscale Research Director Zach Pandl said Zcash miners currently generate about $2 million in total revenue each day, compared with approximately $35 million earned across the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin’s total remains far higher because its mining network contains much more computing power. On an individual-machine basis, however, Grayscale estimated that a Zcash miner earns about twice the daily revenue of a Bitcoin miner.
Power-based comparisons create an even larger gap. Pandl estimated that Zcash mining produces approximately four times as much revenue per megawatt-hour as Bitcoin mining. Under the assumptions used in Grayscale’s analysis, $ZEC mining revenue per unit of electricity also exceeds the income offered by some artificial intelligence and high-performance computing cloud services.
Zcash uses a proof-of-work consensus system, so miners compete to process transactions and add blocks to the chain. Successful miners receive newly issued $ZEC and transaction fees, making token prices, network difficulty, equipment efficiency and electricity costs central to their earnings.
Unlike Bitcoin miners, Zcash operators use equipment designed for the Equihash mining algorithm. Bitcoin relies on SHA-256 machines, which means operators cannot move the same hardware between the two networks simply because one becomes more profitable.
Grayscale’s estimates compare revenue rather than net profit. Actual earnings for any operator can vary after accounting for power rates, equipment prices, cooling, maintenance, facility costs, and mining-pool fees.
Zcash hash rate has grown more than 2.5 times
Rising $ZEC prices have encouraged miners to add computing power, pushing total Zcash mining activity to more than 2.5 times its level at the beginning of the year, according to Pandl.
Hash rate measures the computing power dedicated to mining and securing a proof-of-work chain. As more machines compete, the network gains additional resources for validating blocks, while individual miners face more competition for the same block rewards.
Pandl described the increase as a reinforcing cycle in which a higher $ZEC price makes mining more attractive, fresh machines raise the network’s hash rate, and added computing power strengthens the cost of attacking the chain. Grayscale believes improved security can then support investor confidence in the asset, although the cycle depends partly on $ZEC retaining enough value to cover miners’ operating expenses.
The economics can change as mining participation rises. Zcash adjusts its mining difficulty to match the computing power on the network, so adding machines eventually makes each unit of hash rate less productive unless $ZEC prices or transaction-fee revenue rise at the same time.
Supply issuance also affects the calculation. Zcash follows a Bitcoin-like scarcity model with a maximum supply of 21 million coins and scheduled reductions in block rewards. Lower issuance reduces the number of new tokens available to miners, requiring price gains, fee growth, or more efficient machines to offset the decline.
$ZEC’s price rally has changed the mining equation
Improved mining revenue has followed a sharp rise in $ZEC’s market value during 2026. On Sep. 4, the token climbed above $1,000 for the first time after gaining 20% in one session, while about $34.5 million in short positions were liquidated over 24 hours.
As crypto.news reported earlier, $ZEC had advanced roughly 2,300% year over year from about $42 in September 2025. Trading volume reached $1.2 billion during the move above $1,000, while its market capitalization rose to approximately $16.8 billion.
Price gains directly affect miners because block rewards are paid in $ZEC. A miner producing the same number of coins earns more in dollar terms when the token rises, even if its equipment and electricity use remain unchanged.
The rally has also made Zcash mining more sensitive to price reversals. CoinGecko data showed $ZEC trading near $1,093 on Sep. 11 after falling close to 11% over 24 hours. Although the level remained far above its price a year earlier, the daily loss showed how quickly the dollar value of mining rewards can change.
Network growth may also reduce revenue per machine if additional hash rate raises mining difficulty faster than prices recover. Grayscale nonetheless considers Zcash mining attractive at its current valuation, according to Pandl, who said the new computing power continues to reinforce network security.
US investors gained $ZEC access through ZCSH
American investors received a new route to Zcash exposure on Aug. 25 when Grayscale converted its existing Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded product listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH.
The Zcash ETF launch allowed brokerage-account investors to track the value of $ZEC without buying the cryptocurrency directly or operating mining equipment. Grayscale set the product’s annual sponsor fee at 2.5% and said fee revenue would support network development, marketing and other Zcash-related work.
ZCSH holds $ZEC while its shares trade through the traditional securities market. Grayscale’s regulatory filings provide for authorized participants to create and redeem baskets of shares, a process intended to keep the fund’s market price close to the net asset value of its holdings.
Before the conversion, the product traded on OTCQX as the Grayscale Zcash Trust. The fund held more than $313.5 million in assets shortly before its exchange listing, while Grayscale’s earlier filings identified Coinbase Custody as custodian and BNY Mellon as administrator.
An August filing amendment also disclosed that DCG International Investments, a subsidiary of Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group, was considering an investment tied to approximately 200,000 $ZEC. The discussions were nonbinding, and Grayscale said the subsidiary could purchase more shares, fewer shares or none.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission closed an investigation into the Zcash Foundation in January without recommending enforcement action. The inquiry began with an August 2023 subpoena concerning crypto asset offerings, according to the foundation.
