Zcash Foundation Q1 report highlights SEC clarity as ZEC extends privacy coin rally

Zcash Foundation published its Q1 2026 report, highlighting the closure of an SEC investigation, continued network resilience, and progress on key protocol upgrades as ZEC extends its rebound from an early-year cooldown.

The foundation said the US Securities and Exchange Commission closed its investigation without recommending enforcement action, removing a significant regulatory overhang for the privacy-focused blockchain.

The report described the quarter as one of the most consequential in Zcash Foundation’s history, citing ecosystem-wide transitions, new infrastructure, governance progress, and technical work tied to Network Upgrade 7.

ZEC was trading near $573 at press time, extending a rebound of more than 160% since late March. The rally follows renewed interest in Zcash last year, when the token surged from $74 in October 2025 to more than $630, after a wave of privacy-focused demand and institutional attention.

The foundation said the SEC inquiry began with an August 2023 subpoena and ended after the agency informed ZF that it did not intend to pursue enforcement action. The report framed the closure as removing a significant regulatory overhang and allowing the foundation to move forward with greater clarity.

Zcash Foundation also highlighted the network’s resilience during a period of internal disruption at Electric Coin Company, after governance disputes led to the departure of much of ECC’s development team. The foundation said blocks continued to be produced, transactions settled, and user funds and privacy remained secure throughout the transition.

Zcash Foundation said it strengthened network infrastructure during the quarter by deploying new DNS seeders in the US and Europe, releasing multiple Zebra updates, patching two security issues, and advancing work on the Z3 stack, zcashd deprecation, NU7, expanded RPC coverage, and FROST tooling.

The foundation reported average monthly operating expenses of about $272,539 in Q1, with total quarterly expenses of $817,618. Its simplified balance sheet showed $36.7 million in total liquid assets at the end of March, including 85,412 ZEC valued at $21.2 million, based on a March 31 price of $248.22 per ZEC.