Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of the crypto exchange Gemini, made headlines today by endorsing Zcash (ZEC) as one of the “most important and underrated” crypto projects currently in the market. His statement came via a post on X, emphasizing the crucial roles of privacy and decentralization in maintaining a “free and open society.”

“Zcash is one of the most important and underrated crypto projects in the world today. It brings privacy and decentralization to money, two fundamental building blocks of a free and open society. That’s why I’m supporting Shielded Labs and its contributions to Zcash. Onward!” Tyler wrote.

Why Zcash Is The “Most Underrated” Crypto Project

This endorsement coincides with news from Shielded Labs, an independent Swiss-based organization dedicated to Zcash, which on August 8 announced significant organizational changes and development plans. Zooko Wilcox, known for his role in founding Zcash (ZEC) and the Electric Coin Company (ECC), has joined Shielded Labs as Head of Product and also took a seat on its Board of Directors.

Wilcox’s immediate task is to oversee the development of Crosslink, a project aimed at transitioning Zcash from a pure Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a hybrid Proof-of-Work/Proof-of-Stake (PoW/PoS) consensus protocol. His leadership is expected to be instrumental in Zcash’s strategic planning and fundraising efforts, with significant contributions already flowing in from figures like Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Vitalik Buterin, and the Anoma Foundation, among others.

Wilcox also published a blog post titled “Zcash is Winning, “where he details the philosophical and practical reasons why Zcash is a pivotal project in the crypto space, focusing on privacy as a cornerstone of civil rights and economic freedom. He stressed the importance of evolving Zcash’s technology to ensure it remains a viable and secure form of private money, against pressures from national governments.

“Zcash allows anyone—anywhere—to send, receive, and hold private money without being subject to pressure or coercion from others. Zcash puts the control over your money solely in your own hands,” Wilcox emphasized in his post.

The transition to a hybrid PoW/PoS system is seen by Wilcox as a necessary evolution to maintain the currency’s distribution while alleviating the price pressures caused by ongoing coin creation—a model following Bitcoin’s original framework.

“It’s time to upgrade Zcash to (hybrid) Proof-of-Stake. The creation and distribution of ZEC coins by the Proof-of-Work mining algorithm was a necessary first step. […] It ensured that ZEC flowed far and wide, and invisibly, into the hands of the people who valued it most and were most committed to its long-term mission,” Wilcox remarked.

Since the announcement by Shielded Labs, the Zcash price is up more than 35%. However, ZEC is still down more than 98% from its all time high at $3.191 from October 2016. At press time, ZEC traded at $41.07.