Zcash developers are targeting January for the addition of post-quantum signature instructions to the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, a step intended to protect payments from future attacks using quantum computing. The plan has not yet been assigned a confirmed date for activation on the Zcash network.
The proposed change would initially focus on transparent transactions, which represent roughly 70% of all issued ZEC. Developers are also testing a privacy tool that would allow wallets to check balances without giving a server an easily readable list of addresses, helping reduce the chance that separate addresses can be linked.
January target, but no activation date
Roman Akhtariev, an engineer at Zakura, said in an engineering post that the team plans to bring “post-quantum signature opcodes” to Zcash in January. Zakura is one of the software programs used to operate the Zcash network and validate transactions. The statement sets a development target, rather than confirming when users will receive the upgrade or when it will become active across the network.
The opcodes would enable Zcash to verify hash-based signatures. A signature is the cryptographic approval that demonstrates a wallet owner has authorized a payment. Hash-based signatures use hashes—digital fingerprints generated from data—instead of relying solely on the types of public-key mathematics used by many current cryptocurrency wallets.
The purpose is to make it harder for an attacker to use a publicly available key to work backward to a wallet’s secret key and forge permission to spend funds. A successful attack on existing wallet-key mathematics would not automatically defeat the proposed replacement, because an attacker would instead need to overcome the underlying hash functions.
Zcash already benefits from a design in which a transparent address initially conceals the public key behind a hash. However, spending from that address reveals the key needed to verify the transaction. Sending remaining funds to a new address can place them behind an undisclosed key until the next spend. The proposed signatures are intended to provide additional protection once authorization becomes visible during spending.
Public transactions hold most ZEC
Zcash supports two broad payment types. Shielded transactions conceal the sender, recipient and amount. Transparent transactions leave addresses and amounts visible on the blockchain, operating in a way broadly comparable to Bitcoin’s public transaction model.
The first stage of the quantum-resistance plan is aimed at the transparent pool. CoinDesk’s calculation from ZecStats data found that about 11.96 million of the 16.98 million ZEC issued were held there on Thursday, or approximately seven in every 10 coins.
Shielded payments require separate safeguards. Zcash’s quantum-recovery design warns that an attacker who obtains a recipient’s address could preserve encrypted transaction records and potentially try to decrypt them later if a mathematical breakthrough made that possible. The January proposal therefore does not represent a complete quantum-security upgrade for every type of Zcash payment.
The issue has gained attention after Ethereum researcher Justin Drake warned that cryptocurrency holders should prepare for a possible “bunker mode.” He said, in a worst-case scenario, artificial intelligence could help find a shortcut through the mathematics protecting bitcoin and ether wallets within months rather than years. No practical attack on those wallet keys has been demonstrated, while Ethereum’s broader transition to quantum-resistant cryptography has a target date of December 2029.
Private balance checks are also being tested
Zakura has developed a separate tool intended to address a privacy weakness that can arise even when users create fresh addresses. A wallet holding funds across 10 addresses still needs to learn the balances associated with them. Under a conventional arrangement, it asks a server for that information, potentially allowing the server to connect addresses that appear unrelated on the blockchain.
The Zakura tool uses private information retrieval. This method allows a database to return a requested record without learning which record the user selected. In practice, a wallet can check its balances without sending the server a readable list of its addresses. The transactions themselves remain public when they are made through the transparent system.
An experimental version is available in Vizor, a Zcash wallet, through its “Private queries” setting. The feature is separate from the proposed January signature upgrade and does not change the visibility of transparent payments on the blockchain.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data recorded at 11:34 a.m. on October 11, 2026, shows Zcash at $1,233.59, up 0.69% over 24 hours but down 7.51% over seven days. Ethereum was trading at $2,499.42, up 0.25% in 24 hours and down 7.50% over the week. These figures are Moneyiar data at the stated time and are not a forecast.
According to CoinDesk, ZEC ended Thursday near $1,185, having fallen about 11% during the preceding week after Drake’s warning circulated widely on X. That move made Zcash the biggest decliner among leading cryptocurrencies at the time, although the later Moneyiar snapshot shows a different price and period of measurement.
