Nym Technologies has secured a grant from the ZCash Community Grants, extending the metadata privacy safeguards of the Nym mixnet to the Zcash ecosystem.

The Nym mixnet serves as a layer-0 privacy infrastructure. It is compatible with any blockchain and can seamlessly integrate to conceal traffic, safeguard privacy, and enhance the security of both users and validators. By teaming up with Nym, Zcash joins other Web3 projects such as Monero, Aztec, and Near.

Nym-ZCash

According to the announcement disclosed to CryptoPotato, Nym aims to collaborate with ZCash’s privacy infrastructure to offer an end-to-end protected solution privacy solution for users of the privacy-focused crypto asset, addressing the existing vulnerability of data leakage at the network level within ZCash.

This initial integration involves incorporating the Nym mixnet into the light client libraries developed by the Electric Coin Company. Such a move will enable developers of ZCash wallets to have the option to activate the privacy protections of the mixnet as needed.

The press release stated that the Nym mixnet prevents various adversaries, including government entities, corporations, and criminals, from tracing metadata, unlike other privacy technologies. In fact, the Metadata is leaked with every online interaction.

Nym explained that the mixnet achieves this by dividing data into equally sized encrypted Sphinx packets and dispersing them through three hops to ‘mix nodes’ globally at random intervals. Additionally, the mixnet introduces dummy ‘cover’ traffic to further obfuscate monitoring. These combined features make it impossible for even powerful adversaries with a global network view to track metadata patterns.

Commenting on the development, Josh Swihart, the recently onboarded CEO of ECC stated,

“I’m extremely pleased to see Nym come to life on the Zcash network. Network-level privacy has been a missing piece since Zcash’s inception. This partnership between these two projects will significantly deepen protections for everyday users wishing to protect their financial privacy. It’s fantastic to see the privacy ecosystem come together.”

Regulatory Uncertainty Weighs on Zcash

Privacy coins have been a major bone of contention within the crypto industry, stemming from the foundational principles of privacy and pseudonymity, contrasted with the growing demand to adhere to global regulatory norms.

Global regulators believe that these assets could facilitate illicit activities like money laundering, terrorist financing, and evasion of economic sanctions.

This has tremendously affected Zcash’s native token – ZEC – which failed to recover despite a market-wide resurgence. Over the past month, ZEC has plunged by around 20% to $20.55 extending its yearly losses to over 56%.