Zcash Mining Rewards Outpace Bitcoin on Machine and Energy Metrics, Grayscale Says

Zcash mining rewards are approximately twice as high as Bitcoin’s on a per-machine basis and about four times higher per unit of electricity, according to an analysis by Grayscale. The firm said rising Zcash prices are encouraging greater mining activity and could contribute to stronger network security.

Zcash Shows Mining Advantage

Grayscale estimates that Zcash miners generate roughly twice the daily rewards of Bitcoin miners using comparable individual machines. When measured against electricity consumption, the difference is even larger, with Zcash producing about four times the rewards per unit of energy, the firm said.

Mining profitability depends on several factors, including token prices, network difficulty, hardware efficiency and electricity costs. The comparison cited by Grayscale reflects current conditions and may change as market prices and mining competition shift.

Higher Prices Attract Mining Activity

Stronger Zcash token prices have improved the economics of mining, creating an incentive for operators to add or deploy more computing equipment. An increase in mining participation generally raises the computational resources supporting a proof-of-work network.

Potential Network-Security Implications

Grayscale linked the expansion of Zcash mining activity to improved network security. A larger amount of computing power can make it more difficult and expensive for an attacker to gain control of a significant share of the network’s mining capacity.

However, mining economics remain sensitive to changes in Zcash’s market value, mining difficulty and operating expenses. As those variables change, the relative advantage identified in Grayscale’s analysis may narrow or widen.