- Shielded Labs gets a $1.2 million donation.
- It's the second time the Winklevoss twins have contributed to the Zcash developer.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have donated $1.2 million to Zcash developer Shielded Labs to help strengthen security, sustainability, and scalability of the privacy-focused blockchain.
Shielded Labs is independent from the Electric Coin Company, the primary for-profit entity leading Zcash development. Zooko Wilcox, one of Zcash’s co-founders who was formerly CEO of the Electric Coin Company until December 2023, acts as the organisation’s chief product officer.
“A healthy Zcash ecosystem depends on multiple independent organisations contributing at the protocol level,” Cameron Winklevoss said in a statement. “Shielded Labs plays an important role in that effort, and we’re glad to support their work.”
Privacy coins have been on a tear. Venture capital giant a16z crypto, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and crypto exchange Coinbase have championed privacy as a key theme for the crypto sector in 2026 — support that has catapulted both Zcash and Monero to higher prices in recent months.
Major shakeup
The contribution from the Gemini co-founders comes amid a major shakeup in the Zcash developer world.
On January 8, the Electric Coin Company’s entire development team suddenly quit after a disagreement with the nonprofit board overseeing the company.
“The terms of our employment were changed in ways that made it impossible for us to perform our duties effectively and with integrity,” Josh Swihart, formerly CEO of Electric Coin Company, wrote on X at the time.
“This decision is simply about protecting our team’s work from malicious governance actions that have made it impossible to honour ECC’s original mission.”
“The network’s resilience and future are not tied to any single organisation’s fate,” the nonprofit Zcash Foundation said at the time.
Still, Zcash’s ZEC token dropped 20% to a low of around $395.
The token has continued to sell off, and now trades at around $365, its lowest price since the start of December.
Shielded Labs support
Launched in 2016, Zcash is a privacy-focused blockchain that offers users optional anonymity.
It uses a cryptographic technique called zero-knowledge proofs to hide transaction details such as the sender, recipient, and amount.
Shielded Labs is a Swiss-based organisation funded by donations from Zcash holders and supporters. It operates independently of the Dev Fund, with donations supporting long-term protocol development.
The Zcash Dev Fund is a community-governed pool, funded by a portion of the block rewards produced by the blockchain.
The Winklevoss twins’ contribution will directly support Shielded Labs’ core initiatives. These include the Network Sustainability Mechanism, a set of upgrades designed to support Zcash’s long-term economic health, Crosslink, which introduces a hybrid Proof-of-Stake layer alongside the blockchain’s existing Proof-of-Work validation system, and Dynamic Fees.
It’s the second time the pair have donated to Shielded Labs. Their first contribution, made in 2023, supported the formation of a dedicated team focused on Crosslink.
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
