About this Chart

Zcash supports two types of transactions: transparent transactions where addresses and amounts are publicly visible like Bitcoin, and shielded transactions that use zero-knowledge cryptography to keep this information private. The network organizes funds into separate chain value pools—think of these as different ledgers that each use a specific protocol for handling transactions.

Transparent: The public pool that works exactly like Bitcoin, where anyone can see addresses and transaction amounts on the blockchain.

Sprout: Zcash's original privacy protocol from the October 2016 launch, using addresses that start with "zc". This pool is now deprecated and stopped accepting new funds in November 2020.

Sapling: An improved privacy protocol from October 2018 with addresses starting with "zs". Sapling made shielded transactions fast enough for mobile wallets while maintaining strong privacy.

Orchard: The newest and most efficient privacy protocol, activated in May 2022. Orchard is part of unified addresses (starting with "u1") that can receive funds to multiple pools from a single address.

The chart displays three metrics: shielded transactions (only the private transactions across Sprout, Sapling, and Orchard pools), total transactions (which includes coinbase mining transactions, transparent transactions, and all shielded transactions), and transactions per second (TPS) showing network throughput.