Coinbase Institutional released its 2026 Crypto Market Outlook, noting that although the U.S. economy remains resilient, uncertainty is elevated and the crypto market environment in the first half of 2026 is closer to 1996 than 1999. The report introduces a “DAT 2.0” model, suggesting institutions will move beyond simple asset allocation toward specialized trading, custody, and block-space procurement, while highlighting growing demand for privacy technologies, AI-driven autonomous agents, application-speci ...

Core Principles & Mission - Zcash aims to invest in privacy technologies and promote self-sovereignty, based on the cypherpunk manifesto from 1993 [1] - Zcash is described as encrypted Bitcoin, sharing the same tokenomics with a capped supply of 21 million ZEC [1] Community & Vision - Early Bitcoin enthusiasts are also excited about Zcash, viewing both cryptocurrencies as complementary [1] - The speaker believes AI will catalyze the need for privacy, further driving the adoption of Zcash [1] Bitcoin & Zcash Relationship - Bitcoin is transparent in storing value, while Zcash offers encrypted transactions, suggesting users should utilize both [1] - Zcash and Bitcoin are seen as going hand in hand, appealing to a shared community [1]

Emerging Privacy Technologies in Crypto - New privacy technologies like MPC, FHE, TEEs, and zkTLS are emerging in the crypto space, each approaching privacy from a unique perspective [1] - Major projects are now being built utilizing these technologies [1] Multi-Party Computation (MPC) - MPC enables multiple parties to jointly compute data without revealing individual inputs, useful where regulation or competition restricts data sharing [2][3] - MPC faces roadblocks as increased participants lead to higher communication and computation costs [3] - Companies like Fireblocks, Arcium, and Renegade are using MPC for institutional custody, private AI, and confidential on-chain trading respectively [3] Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) - FHE allows computation on encrypted data without decryption, maintaining encryption throughout the process [4] - FHE is significantly slower, by 10-100x, than other computation methods, and zk verification further reduces speed [5] - Companies like Zama, FhenixIO, Privasea_ai, and Octra are using FHE for encrypted smart contracts, practical apps, encrypted AI model training, and general-purpose chains [6] Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) - TEEs are secure hardware zones isolating data, used in crypto for private contracts and block production [7] - TEEs are centralized due to reliance on hardware vendors and are vulnerable to supply chain attacks [8] - Companies like Unichain, SpaceComputerIO, OasisProtocol, and PhalaNetwork are using TEEs for MEV prevention, tamper-proof satellite nodes, private EVM contracts, and confidential cloud services [7][11] Zero-Knowledge Transport Security Layer (zkTLS) - zkTLS combines TLS with zero-knowledge proofs to verify data privately, allowing proof of facts like bank balances without revealing details [9] - zkTLS is limited to visible HTTPS data, depends on TLS standards, and requires oracle involvement, adding latency [10] - Companies like zkp2p, EarniFi, and daisypayapp are using zkTLS for private on/off ramps, lending based on earned wages, and influencer payouts [10][12] Overall Impact - These technologies expand crypto's design space, but adoption depends on improving the user experience of privacy [11] - Complex applications may combine multiple PETs, such as MPC for coordination, FHE for computation, and TEEs for key storage [10]