New Zakura Node by Zcash Targets 50,000 TPS with Full Privacy ...

⏱ 7 min de lecture

Par DCN Editorial Team
Publié le 19 July 2026

📖 7 min de lecture

Zcash Reaches a Historic Milestone with Zakura

The ecosystem of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies has just experienced a major breakthrough. Zcash, one of the most iconic projects in the field of blockchain privacy protection, has unveiled its new client Zakura, a next-generation node that promises to take the network from roughly one private transaction per second to a scale comparable to Visa, with a target of 50,000 transactions per second (TPS). This announcement, reported by CryptoDiffer, marks a potential turning point in the evolution of private blockchains, long criticized for their inability to compete in throughput with public networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

The development of Zakura represents a direct response to one of the most persistent problems of privacy cryptocurrencies: the gap between cryptographic security and large-scale performance. While public blockchains like Solana or Avalanche achieve thousands of transactions per second, privacy-focused networks have traditionally sacrificed throughput to ensure user data protection. With Zakura, Zcash seeks to prove that privacy does not have to mean slowness.

Understanding Zcash and Zero-Knowledge Proof Technology

Zcash is a cryptocurrency launched in 2016 that uses advanced cryptographic technology called zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge). Unlike Bitcoin, where all transactions are publicly visible on the blockchain, Zcash allows users to choose between transparent transactions (similar to Bitcoin) and shielded transactions, where the amount, sender, and recipient are encrypted and invisible to outside observers.

This zero-knowledge proof technology enables Zcash to verify the validity of a transaction without revealing any sensitive information about it. Zk-SNARKs make it possible to prove that a sender has sufficient funds, that the transaction does not involve fraudulent coin creation, and that all participants are legitimate, all without exposing transaction details to the public. This unique feature is what has made Zcash a benchmark in the world of privacy coins.

The Current Limitation: About One Private Transaction per Second

While Zcash has long been praised for its cryptographic robustness, its most glaring limitation lies in its throughput. In its current state, the network can only process about one shielded transaction per second. For perspective, Visa processes an average of 1,700 transactions per second with a reported peak capacity of 24,000 TPS. Bitcoin handles about 7 TPS on its base layer, while Ethereum reaches about 15 TPS.

This limitation is not accidental — it stems directly from the complexity of the cryptographic computations required for zk-SNARKs. Each shielded transaction requires the generation of complex proofs, followed by their verification by network nodes. These operations are far more computationally expensive than simply verifying a digital signature on Bitcoin or Ethereum. As a result, the Zcash network has struggled to attract large-scale use cases, confining its private transactions to a relatively modest volume.

Zakura: The Architecture of a Next-Generation Node

It is in this context that the Zakura project takes on its full meaning. Developed as an alternative Zcash client, Zakura rethinks the node architecture from the ground up to achieve an ambitious goal: 50,000 transactions per second with full privacy. This leap of several orders of magnitude — from 1 TPS to 50,000 TPS — requires innovations at every level of the software stack.

Although the full technical details of Zakura’s implementation are still being unveiled by the development team, early indicators suggest several major areas of innovation. First, optimization of the proof algorithms themselves: Zakura likely uses more efficient variants of zk-SNARKs, capable of generating and verifying proofs in a fraction of the time required by Zcash’s original implementation. Recent advances such as PLONK or zk-STARKs have significantly reduced the computational cost of zero-knowledge proofs.

Second, Zakura probably incorporates extensive parallelization mechanisms. Where the original implementation processed transactions in a largely sequential manner, a next-generation node can distribute the proof verification workload across multiple CPU cores, or even graphics processing units (GPUs). This multi-threaded approach allows for a considerable increase in throughput without compromising security.

Third, Zakura’s architecture appears to rely on more efficient management of memory and network state data. Zcash nodes store large cryptographic data — particularly proofs and commitments — which can quickly saturate available memory. Zakura likely introduces optimized data structures and intelligent caching mechanisms to reduce the memory footprint while maintaining fast access times.

50,000 TPS: A Comparison with Traditional Payment Systems

The target of 50,000 TPS places Zakura in a category of its own among privacy blockchains. For reference, Visa processed an average of 1,700 transactions per second on its network in 2023, with an estimated peak capacity of 24,000 TPS. The competing payment network Mastercard handles about 2,000 TPS on average. Zcash’s goal with Zakura is therefore more than double Visa’s announced peak capacity.

It is important to note that this comparison is not perfectly equivalent. Visa and Mastercard are centralized networks that do not require the decentralized cryptographic verification that a blockchain demands. Each transaction on Zcash involves the generation and verification of complex cryptographic proofs, which represents a far higher cost than simply updating a centralized database. The fact that Zakura is nevertheless aiming for 50,000 TPS is a considerable technical feat.

Implications for the Privacy Cryptocurrency Ecosystem

If Zakura achieves its goals, the implications for the entire privacy cryptocurrency ecosystem will be profound. Several sectors could benefit directly from this advancement.

Private payments are the most obvious use case. With 50,000 TPS and full privacy, Zcash would become a viable option for retail payments, interbank transfers, and even microtransactions where consumer privacy protection is paramount. Today, most cryptocurrency payments are visible on public block explorers, allowing transactions to be traced and parties identified. Zcash would solve this problem at scale.

Private decentralized finance (DeFi) is another promising application area. Platforms like Aave or Uniswap currently operate on transparent blockchains where all positions and transactions are visible. A high-performance Zcash could serve as a foundation for DeFi applications where user positions remain confidential, paving the way for a new generation of privacy-respecting financial protocols.

Enterprises and financial institutions are also potential users. In many jurisdictions, businesses are required to protect their customers’ financial data. A network capable of processing large-scale private transactions could attract institutions seeking to use blockchain technology while complying with data protection regulations, such as GDPR in Europe.

Technical Challenges and Adoption

Despite exciting prospects, several challenges remain before Zakura can fully deliver on its promises. The first is obviously technical delivery: moving from a node architecture capable of 1 TPS to one targeting 50,000 TPS represents an immense technological leap, and it is not guaranteed that all envisioned optimizations will materialize within a foreseeable timeframe.

The second challenge is decentralization. A node capable of 50,000 TPS may require significant hardware resources, which could reduce the number of participants able to run a full node and centralize the network. The balance between performance and decentralization is a well-known trade-off in the blockchain space, and Zcash will need to navigate this tension carefully.

The third challenge is regulatory. Privacy cryptocurrencies have always been under close scrutiny from regulators worldwide, concerned about their potential use for money laundering or illicit financing. Several exchanges have already delisted Zcash and other privacy coins in certain jurisdictions. A more performant version of Zcash could attract even more regulatory attention, and the team will need to demonstrate that built-in privacy can coexist with compliance mechanisms.

With an estimated market capitalization of several hundred million dollars and an active developer community, Zcash nonetheless has the resources and expertise to address these challenges. The Zakura project potentially represents the most ambitious roadmap ever presented for a privacy blockchain.

Conclusion

Zcash’s new Zakura client, with its target of 50,000 private transactions per second, marks a significant step in the evolution of privacy blockchains. While precise technical details remain to be confirmed and considerable challenges persist, the ambition displayed by the Zcash team matches the stakes: proving that privacy and performance are not incompatible. For a sector where user data protection is becoming a growing concern, this advancement could well redefine what is possible to expect from a private cryptocurrency.

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