# Zcash vs Monero: Privacy, Supply, Mining and Legal Status Compared > Zcash vs Monero: Monero is private by default, Zcash's privacy is optional. Compare supply, mining, upgrades, wallets and legal status as of Oct 2026. Source: https://ghostswap.io/zcash-vs-monero/ Updated: 2026-10-20 Updated 20 October 2026 **Quick answer:** Monero (XMR) is private by default, so every transaction hides the sender, receiver and amount; Zcash (ZEC) hides all three only when you use its shielded addresses, and about 70% of ZEC sat in transparent addresses on 8 October 2026. Zcash also has a 21 million cap and wider exchange listings, while Monero has no cap and pays 0.6 XMR per block forever. Pick Monero for privacy with nothing to switch on, Zcash for a fixed supply and opt-in privacy. To switch between them, you can swap ZEC to XMR or XMR to ZEC on GhostSwap with no account. ## Zcash vs Monero at a glance | | Zcash (ZEC) | Monero (XMR) | |---|---|---| | Launched | 28 October 2016 | 18 April 2014 | | Private by default? | No. Privacy is optional | Yes. Every transaction | | How privacy works | Zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) | Ring signatures, stealth addresses, RingCT | | Address types | Transparent (t1, t3) and shielded (u1, zs) | Standard (starts with 4) and subaddress (8), both private | | Maximum supply | 21 million ZEC | No cap | | New coins | 1.5625 ZEC per block, halving about every 4 years | 0.6 XMR per block, forever | | Issued so far | About 17.0 million ZEC | About 18.8 million XMR | | Block time | About 75 seconds | About 2 minutes | | Mining | Equihash proof of work (ASIC machines) | RandomX proof of work (built for CPUs) | | Big exchanges | Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Binance, OKX (varies by country) | Kraken in some countries; delisted by Binance and OKX | | Next big upgrade | NU7 (no date set) | FCMP++ (no mainnet date) | Issued so far: CoinGecko, 20 October 2026. ## How does each coin hide your transactions? **Monero** applies three tools to every transaction: - **Ring signatures** hide the sender. Your real coin is signed alongside decoys, so an observer can't tell which one was spent. Since August 2022 each ring has 16 members. - **Stealth addresses** hide the receiver. The sender creates a new one-time address for every payment. - **RingCT** hides the amount. Monero's FAQ says all transactions are "private by mandate; there is no way to accidentally send a transparent transaction." To show your activity to an accountant, say, you can share your view key, which reveals incoming transactions. **Zcash** has two kinds of address: - **Transparent addresses** (t1 or t3) work like Bitcoin addresses. Balances and transfers are public. - **Shielded addresses** (unified addresses start with u1, Sapling ones with zs) use zero-knowledge proofs called zk-SNARKs. A transaction between shielded addresses hides the addresses, the amount and the memo, and the network can still check it's valid. Its shielded pools include Sapling (2018), Orchard (2022) and Ironwood (2026). Viewing keys let you show shielded activity to an auditor. ## Is Zcash more private than Monero? Only when you stay inside Zcash's shielded pool. A shielded payment uses no decoys: the proof shows it's valid without showing which coins were spent. Monero hides each spend among 16 ring members, and its planned FCMP++ upgrade would widen that to the whole chain. In practice: - **Most ZEC is transparent.** About 11.96 million of 16.98 million ZEC (roughly 70%) sat in the transparent pool on 8 October 2026 (CoinDesk, from ZecStats data). - **Shielding starts in public.** Coins sent to a t-address show their amount on the chain until you shield them. - **Researchers have found weak spots in both.** A 2018 USENIX Security paper found usage patterns could shrink Zcash's anonymity set considerably. A 2018 PoPETs study found about 62% of early Monero inputs with decoys were open to "chain-reaction" analysis. Both networks have changed since. **Bottom line:** Monero gives strong privacy with nothing to switch on. Zcash's shielded pool can be very private too, but you have to choose it, and most coins sit on the transparent side. ## How do supply, issuance and mining compare? **Zcash copies Bitcoin's supply model:** 21 million ZEC at most. Since the November 2024 halving each block pays 1.5625 ZEC: 80% to miners, 8% to Zcash Community Grants and 12% to a protocol "lockbox" fund. The next halving falls on 23 November 2028 under current rules, unless Zcash switches to smoothed issuance (ZIP 234) first. ZEC is mined with Equihash on dedicated ASIC machines. Shielded Labs is developing Crosslink, which would combine proof of work with proof of stake; we found no activation date. **Monero has no maximum supply.** Tail emission began on 9 June 2022: each block now pays 0.6 XMR (slightly less if a block is oversized), forever. Monero's FAQ puts inflation at about 1% in the first year, falling toward 0%. No company runs Monero; contributors are volunteers or community-funded. RandomX mining is built for ordinary processors to discourage specialised hardware. It has been tested: in August 2025 the Qubic project claimed more than half of Monero's hashrate, and CoinDesk reported an 18-block chain reorganisation that September. Holding ZEC? See [Is Zcash a good investment?](/is-zcash-a-good-investment/) ## What upgrades are coming? **Monero: FCMP++.** Full-Chain Membership Proofs would replace ring signatures, hiding each input among the whole history of Monero outputs (about 100 million in the project's 2024 estimate) instead of 16. On 20 October 2026 it sits under "Coming Soon" on Monero's roadmap and is being tested on a separate test network, the beta stressnet. No mainnet date has been announced. **Zcash: one upgrade live, several without dates.** - **Ironwood (live).** NU6.3 activated on 28 July 2026 with a new shielded pool, after a flaw was found in Orchard's proof circuit on 29 May 2026 (present since 2022, patched 1 June). Orchard is now restricted, and coins leaving it pass through a "turnstile" that makes Zcash's supply independently checkable. Shielded Labs called exploitation unlikely but hard to rule out. - **NU7.** Its activation height "has not yet been set". The old zcashd node is being deprecated in favour of the Zebra node. - **Post-quantum signatures.** Developers aim for January; as of 9 October 2026 (CoinDesk) no activation date was confirmed. ## Which wallets support Zcash and Monero? | | Zcash | Monero | |---|---|---| | Wallets listed by the project | Zodl (formerly Zashi), Zingo!, Ywallet, Edge, Unstoppable | Monero GUI and CLI (official), Feather, Cake Wallet, Monerujo, Stack Wallet, Edge, ANONERO | | Hardware | Keystone | Ledger and Trezor, through compatible wallet software | Edge is on both lists. For ZEC, pick a wallet that can shield. More: [best Monero wallets](/best-monero-wallets/). ## Where can you buy Zcash and Monero, and are they legal? **Exchanges.** ZEC trades on Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Binance and OKX, depending on your country. OKX delisted ZEC in January 2024 and listed it again in November 2025. Exchange withdrawals usually go to transparent addresses. XMR is harder to find. OKX delisted it in January 2024, Binance in February 2024, and Kraken in the EEA (October 2024) and Canada (September 2025). Kraken has also stopped both coins for users in India and the UAE (notices updated in 2026). No-account swap services such as GhostSwap handle both coins. Step by step: [how to buy Zcash](/how-to-buy-zcash/) and [how to buy Monero](/how-to-buy-monero/). **The rules** (a summary, not legal advice): | Region | What the rules say | ZEC and XMR | |---|---|---| | European Union | Since 30 December 2024, MiCA Article 76(3) keeps coins with built-in anonymisation off trading platforms unless holders and history can be identified. From 10 July 2027, [Regulation (EU) 2024/1624](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1624/oj) bars banks and crypto providers from keeping accounts that use "anonymity-enhancing coins" | Both: the definition covers privacy that is "systematically or optionally" on | | United States | No federal ban found. The [IRS](https://www.irs.gov/filing/digital-assets) treats digital assets as property. Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH) began trading on NYSE Arca on 25 August 2026 | No ban found on either | | Dubai | The [VARA rulebook](https://rulebooks.vara.ae/entiresection/419) prohibits virtual-asset activity involving "Anonymity-Enhanced Cryptocurrencies". The DIFC regulator banned privacy tokens for its firms from 12 January 2026; residents can still hold them in a private wallet | Rules bind regulated firms. Kraken stopped both for UAE users | | South Korea | Crypto service providers barred from handling "dark coins" since March 2021 | Both named | | Japan | Coincheck stopped handling XMR, ZEC and DASH on 18 June 2018, after concerns raised by the Financial Services Agency | Both dropped | None of these rules bans individuals from holding either coin in their own wallet; they limit what regulated firms can offer. Follow your local laws and tax rules. Country by country: [Is Monero legal?](/is-monero-legal/) and [Will Zcash be banned?](/will-zcash-be-banned/) ## Zcash or Monero: which should you pick? | If you want | Better fit | Why | |---|---|---| | Privacy on every payment, nothing to switch on | Monero | Every transaction is private by protocol | | A fixed maximum supply | Zcash | Capped at 21 million, with halvings | | A permanent mining reward | Monero | 0.6 XMR per block, forever | | To buy on a large regulated exchange | Zcash | Listed on Coinbase, Gemini, Binance and OKX in many countries | | To choose per payment what is public | Zcash | Transparent and shielded addresses side by side | ## How to swap between Zcash and Monero on GhostSwap GhostSwap is a no-KYC crypto exchange: there's no account, and we never ask for your name, email, phone number or identity documents to start a swap. Swaps work both ways, with native coins on each chain and no wrapped tokens. - **Pick the pair.** Open [ZEC to XMR](/exchange/zec-xmr/) or [XMR to ZEC](/exchange/xmr-zec/) and enter the amount. The box shows the quote and the live minimum and maximum. - **Paste your own receiving address.** A Monero address is 95 characters and starts with 4 or 8. For ZEC, use a transparent address (t1 or t3): GhostSwap doesn't pay to shielded addresses. Add the address you send from, for refunds. - **Send.** Send the exact amount to the one-time deposit address. - **Receive.** The coins are paid straight to your own wallet, usually within 20 to 60 minutes. Follow the swap on its status page. What to expect: - **Rate and fees.** Rates float. The quote includes the service fee and the network fee for your payout; your wallet pays the network fee on your deposit. - **After XMR to ZEC.** Shield the ZEC in your wallet to make it private. More routes: [Zcash exchange](/zcash-exchange/) and [Monero exchange](/monero-exchange/). ## FAQ **Is Zcash more private than Monero?** Not by default. Monero hides the sender, receiver and amount of every transaction. Zcash does that only for shielded transactions, and about 70% of ZEC sat in transparent addresses on 8 October 2026. **Which is better for privacy, Zcash or Monero?** Monero, if you want privacy without extra steps: it covers every transaction and has no transparent mode. Zcash's shielded pool is also strongly private, but you have to use it on purpose, and exchange withdrawals usually arrive at transparent addresses. **Does Monero have a maximum supply like Zcash?** No. Since June 2022 Monero has paid 0.6 XMR per block forever, about 1% inflation in the first year and falling toward 0% over time. Zcash is capped at 21 million ZEC. **Are Zcash and Monero legal?** We found no country that bans owning either coin. South Korea and Dubai stop regulated firms from offering them, and from 10 July 2027 EU crypto providers can't keep accounts that use them. Check your local laws and tax rules. **How do I swap Monero to Zcash without an account?** Open the XMR to ZEC pair on GhostSwap, paste your own transparent Zcash address (t1 or t3) and your Monero refund address, and send the XMR. ZEC to XMR works the same way in reverse. There's no sign-up, and most swaps are paid out within 20 to 60 minutes. **Can I exchange ZEC for XMR without KYC?** Yes. GhostSwap is a no-KYC crypto exchange: there's no account, and we never ask for your name, email, phone number or identity documents to start a swap. It works both ways, ZEC to XMR and XMR to ZEC. Follow your local laws and tax rules. **What is the best Zcash exchange?** It depends on what you need. To buy ZEC with a verified account, Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Binance and OKX list it, depending on your country. To swap ZEC with no account, GhostSwap handles [BTC to ZEC](/exchange/btc-zec/), [ZEC to BTC](/exchange/zec-btc/) and ZEC to XMR and back, paid straight to your own wallet. Our [Zcash exchange](/zcash-exchange/) page lists every ZEC pair. ## Keep reading - [Will Zcash be banned? Legal status by country](/will-zcash-be-banned/) - [Is Monero legal?](/is-monero-legal/) - [Best Monero wallets](/best-monero-wallets/) - [Monero vs Bitcoin](/monero-vs-bitcoin/) GhostSwap is a crypto swap service that lists both ZEC and XMR. This comparison explains how the coins work; it isn't financial, legal or tax advice.