The recent rise in the price of zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, significantly boosted the income of those involved in its mining.
As reported by CriptoNoticias, ZEC is one of the best performing currencies in recent weeks. Your quote went up almost 9% in 24 hours and a remarkable 182% in the last 30 daysa variation that contrasts with the stability or falls of other crypto assets, as for example occurred with bitcoin (BTC).
ZEC, at the closing of this note, has a value of 400 dollars per coin.
Consequently, devices made specifically for mining the Zcash network, running on the Equihash algorithm, became the most profitable on the market.
And the most striking thing is that the rebound in ZEC revalued models that could have become obsolete.
Such is the case of the Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro, launched in May 2023, with a hashrate of 840 kilohashes per second (KH/s) and a consumption of 2,780 watts, which currently generates about 28 dollars a day nettaking as a reference an electrical cost of 0.10 dollars per kilowatt hour (KWh).
On the other hand, the Bitmain Antminer Z15, launched in June 2020, was positioned as the third most profitable ASIC on the market. This device, which offers 420 KH/s with a consumption of 1,510 watts, produces 13.50 dollars a day net on average.
Thus, the return to profitability of the Z15 is an eloquent reflection of the volatility of cryptoasset mining and how the price of a cryptocurrency can radically alter the economics of that practice.
Despite the growth of the Zcash hashrate, its ASICs revive
The fact that a five-year-old ASIC becomes profitable again is even more relevant considering total hashrate growth contributed to the Zcash network during 2025.
At the beginning of last July, the network registered about 7 gigahashes per second (GH/s), while currently it reaches 10.81 GH/s, which represents a 54% increase.
That increase means greater competition and higher mining difficulty, which typically reduces profits.
Still, the effect of ZEC price compensated for this difficulty and returned profitability to teams which, until recently, were considered obsolete.
The Zcash case demonstrates how market movements can redefine the viability of mining and extend the life of older ASICs, especially in blockchain networks. altcoins that, unlike Bitcoin, the lack of adoption of the former leads to a more “friendly” global hashrate.