Zcash mining activity has increased more than 2.5 times since the start of 2026 as higher ZEC prices improved miner economics, Grayscale Research Director Zach Pandl said. Zcash miners generate about $2 million in total daily revenue, compared with roughly $35 million for Bitcoin miners, but revenue per machine is approximately twice as high for Zcash. Grayscale estimates Zcash revenue at about four times Bitcoin’s level per megawatt-hour and above the revenue of some artificial intelligence and high-performance computing cloud services. The comparison measures revenue rather than net profit and is affected by electricity, equipment, cooling, maintenance, facility and pool costs. Zcash uses Equihash proof-of-work mining equipment, while Bitcoin uses SHA-256 machines, preventing operators from freely switching hardware between the networks. ZEC’s rally above $1,000 on Sep. 4, following a roughly 2,300% year-over-year gain from about $42 in September 2025, further lifted dollar-denominated mining returns, although the token later fell nearly 11% in 24 hours to about $1,093 on Sep. 11. US investors gained exchange-traded access to ZEC on Aug. 25 when Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into the ZCSH product on NYSE Arca. The product charges a 2.5% annual sponsor fee and holds ZEC, while Grayscale’s filings provide for share creations and redemptions intended to keep its market price near net asset value.