At this very early stage, which projects in the Zcash ecosystem are worth paying attention to?
- Core Viewpoint: ZEC rose over 40% this week, breaking through $1,500 to hit an all-time high. The rising privacy narrative has driven activity in Zcash ecosystem projects, with current attention concentrated in the "privacy + identity/PFP" NFT sector, but the ecosystem is still at an ultra-early stage with significant risk.
- Key Elements:
- ZEC rose over 40% in the past week and broke through $1,500 today to set another new all-time high, with the privacy narrative continuing to heat up.
- zkSNARKs is the hottest NFT project at present, with a total supply of 10,000. Its blind auction received 16,971 bids in total, with total sales of 25,305 ZEC (about $36.94 million), but it was accused by Leonidas of being involved in a scam.
- ZecBit Genesis is ZEC's first NFT collection, featuring 3,333 pixel PFPs, with a floor price of 0.36 ZEC (about $530), and it has already launched a Launchpad feature.
- zaddr is a privacy PFP project with 2,800 hand-drawn pixel faces. More than 15,000 people applied for the whitelist, but only 333 were approved.
- The Zcash ecosystem infrastructure is incomplete, and most projects build their own marketplaces. The general-purpose marketplace zecmarket supports EVM and Phantom wallets.
- zebra.family and Zordinals.fun provide inscription and token issuance features, but the latter's page redirects to a suspicious domain, posing a phishing risk.
Original | Odaily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Golem (@web3_golem)
This week, ZEC entered a parabolic rally. According to OKX market data, ZEC has risen over 40% in the past week, and today it surged past $1,500, continuing to hit new all-time highs. As ZEC's price climbs and the privacy narrative heats up, ecosystem projects on Zcash are also beginning to stir.
Overall, the current hype is mainly concentrated on "privacy + identity/PFP" NFTs. Solana ecosystem KOL "Ansem" also posted this morning that he wanted to buy some NFTs, seemingly building momentum for the Zcash NFT ecosystem. In this article, Odaily will briefly introduce ecosystem projects on Zcash to bridge the information gap and help readers uncover early alpha (Note: This is not investment advice; be aware of risks).
Overview of Hot NFT Projects
zkSNARKs
zkSNARKs is currently the hottest NFT project on Zcash. It is a collection of encrypted identities stored on Zcash, emphasizing "public assets, private ownership," using Zcash's zero-knowledge proofs to hide holder information.
The total supply is 10,000, of which 1,000 are allocated to Snarklist whitelist users, 1,000 are reserved for the treasury, and the remaining 8,000 are sold via public blind auction. zkSNARKs just announced the completion of its blind auction on September 18, receiving a total of 16,971 bids. The top 8,000 bidders were determined by bid price from highest to lowest, and due to the uniform lowest clearing price, each winning bidder only needed to pay 1.5 ZEC (approximately $2,190), with a total volume of 25,305 ZEC (approximately $36.94 million). Non-winning bidders will receive full refunds.
At the same time, zkSNARKs announced that its official secondary market Zilkroad will open on September 19. Users interested in participating may want to set an alarm. However, early Bitcoin inscription builder Leonidas also publicly accused the zkSNARKs team today of having repeatedly founded projects in the Ordinals space, with multiple projects being scams. Investors should also evaluate carefully.
ZecBit
ZecBit started with Genesis NFTs and has now grown into a platform for issuing and trading digital collectibles around Zcash. The marketplace currently supports purchasing with ZEC, listing items, posting offers, holding items, and a points reward system. However, the only wallet ZecBit currently supports is Noir Wallet, which can be downloaded by following the instructions when linking a wallet on the official website.
ZecBit Genesis NFT
ZecBit calls its Genesis NFT series "the first NFT series on ZEC." During the initial mint, it even gave these assets a trendy name: ZSA, or native shielded assets, which as the name suggests emphasizes privacy on Zcash. The Genesis series consists of 3,333 pixel-style PFPs, initially free to mint, and now has a floor price of 0.36 ZEC, approximately $530.
In mid-September, ZecBit developed a Launchpad feature to help creators launch NFT projects on Zcash. Zec Punks was the first external collection to independently sell out on the Launchpad, with a total supply of 1,555 and a current floor price of 0.0167 ZEC, approximately $25. The team also announced that the upcoming NFT project BITFOOTS will also launch through ZecBit. Interested users can follow official updates.
ZecBit also has a points system that tracks holders' NFT holding duration and market trading activity. The longer items are held, the higher the points multiplier, and trading also increases points.
zaddr
zaddr is also a Zcash privacy PFP project, and its whitelist application is still open for free participation.
The total supply is 2,800 public pixel face NFTs, all hand-drawn and made pixel by pixel, with no generated images and no trait randomization. The project's core selling point is "faces public, owners completely hidden" (ownership goes through Zcash Orchard shielded pool), with the slogan "Nice to not meet you." zaddr is also the colloquial term for shielded addresses in the Zcash community.
To apply for the whitelist, users need to submit a Zcash address + complete social tasks. The team reviews each application individually. As of press time, whitelist applications have exceeded 15,000, with only 333 submissions passing review.
The social tasks are: following the official Twitter, liking and commenting on specific tweets, and posting project-related tweets. Note that after completing the social tasks, do not undo the above "like, comment, and repost" actions, otherwise you will be disqualified. After completing the tasks, users will receive a "ZA-XXXXXX" status card. By entering their X account name in the checker on the official website, they can view the current status of their whitelist application (approved / under review / not selected).
As more people pay attention to the Zcash NFT ecosystem, in addition to the three relatively well-known projects below, there are also NFT series such as ZecCat, ZecFrogs, and CypherSquad on the market. Interested users can search for them on their own. Although the Zcash NFT ecosystem is still in its early stages, players should carefully evaluate project risks when participating.
NFT Marketplace: zecmarket
The current infrastructure in the Zcash ecosystem is not very robust, which is why both zkSNARKs and ZecBit chose to build their own marketplaces. However, there is still one general-purpose Zcash NFT marketplace on the market: zecmarket.
On zecmarket, users can connect with EVM wallets and Phantom wallet, and zecmarket will automatically generate a Zcash privacy address for the user. Users can find the two NFT series from ZecBit on zecmarket, but the final payment still redirects to ZecBit.
At the same time, zecmarket has also issued an NFT series called Zecutives, with a total supply of 1,111, currently at 0 mint price. Users can connect with a Phantom wallet and pay using EXZEC on Solana, priced at 80,000 EXZEC.
Zcash Ecosystem Launch Platforms
NFT Inscription Tool: zebra.family
zebra.family is an inscription and launch platform in the Zcash ecosystem. Users can attach an IPFS CID or media type to a Zcash transaction to generate an on-chain collectible, similar to Ordinals in the Bitcoin ecosystem. The community therefore also calls these collectibles "Zordinals."
With zebra.family, users do not need to download a wallet and can create an address directly within the platform. The project also supports importing addresses, but address security has not yet been verified, so users who want to try new projects should be cautious.
The project team will also issue a ZRC20 token called ZORD, but the specific launch time has not yet been announced, likely because the functionality has not been fully developed. However, this team was the first to issue ZEBRA on Robinhood Chain, claiming that holding ZEBRA in the future will qualify users for a ZORD airdrop. The exchange ratio is 1000 ZEBRA = 1 ZORD.
Token Launch Platform: Zordinals.fun
What zebra.family cannot accomplish, Zordinals.fun has. Zordinals.fun not only supports inscribing NFTs on Zcash but also supports issuing meme coins on Zcash. The project was developed by developer @RuneSwap1, who previously worked on the Bitcoin Runes ecosystem.
For just 0.001 ZEC, users can issue tokens on Zcash. According to official documentation, issuing tokens on Zcash is similar to issuing BRC20 tokens on Bitcoin, where token issuance, purchase, sale, and transfer operations are all stored and retrieved in the form of inscription records.
Zordinals.fun Launchpad
However, investors should be reminded that if they click "Launchpad" in the top navigation of the homepage, the webpage will redirect to a different domain (zcash.ag). OKX Wallet warns that the website may carry phishing risks. As of press time, @RuneSwap1 has not responded to the matter. The possibility of a hack or an inside job cannot be ruled out, and users should be cautious about connecting wallets that hold funds.
In summary, this article only showcases a corner of the current Zcash ecosystem. The Zcash ecosystem is still in a wild, ultra-early stage. The technical support and adaptation from the crypto market's major infrastructure developers are incomplete, and the risks are significant. Please choose carefully.
