Key Highlights

• ZODL (Zcash Open Development Lab) secured over $25M in seed capital
• Leading investors include a16z Crypto, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures
• The organization emerged following January’s separation from Electric Coin Company
• ZEC token surged approximately 10% within a 24-hour window after the announcement
• The Zodl wallet has facilitated north of $600M in ZEC exchanges since October 2025

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) experienced a significant price surge of almost 10% over a 24-hour period following news that the development team behind its primary wallet secured substantial venture funding.

ZODL, which stands for Zcash Open Development Lab, successfully closed a seed funding round exceeding $25 million. The company made this disclosure public on Monday.

Some of crypto’s most prominent venture capital firms participated in the funding round. The investor lineup features Paradigm, a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital. Additional participants included Cypherpunk Technologies, Maelstrom, and Chapter One.

Notable angel investors also took part in the raise. Contributors included Balaji Srinivasan, former Chief Technology Officer at Coinbase, investor David Friedberg, and Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi.

Josh Swihart, who previously served as CEO of Electric Coin Company, established ZODL. His departure from ECC occurred in January, accompanied by the entire engineering and product development teams.

The separation stemmed from internal conflicts with Bootstrap, the nonprofit entity that provides oversight for ECC. Central to the disagreement were differing visions regarding Zcash’s operational direction as a privacy-preserving protocol.

ZODL’s Development Focus

The organization concentrates its efforts on the Zodl wallet, a non-custodial mobile application designed specifically for Zcash users. The wallet first debuted under ECC branding as Zashi in 2024, before being rebranded to Zodl following the team’s transition.

The application enables shielded transactions, a feature that conceals transaction participants and amounts. This functionality represents the foundational privacy capability of the Zcash blockchain.

According to ZODL, the Zodl wallet contributed to expanding the Zcash shielded pool by more than 400% since its initial release. Additionally, the platform has facilitated over $600 million worth of ZEC swaps beginning in October 2025.

The freshly raised funds will be allocated toward expanding ZODL’s engineering capabilities and advancing both wallet functionality and core protocol development.

Market Response to ZEC

ZEC climbed 4.1% to reach $217.80 in the immediate aftermath of the funding disclosure, based on CoinGecko market data. Throughout the complete 24-hour trading window, the digital asset posted gains of 9.8%.

Among privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies, Zcash delivered exceptional performance over the previous year. The token appreciated from approximately $55.86 to peak at $527.84, representing nearly a tenfold increase.

Early 2026 saw ZEC experience a correction in tandem with wider cryptocurrency market weakness. However, the funding news provided upward momentum for the price.

The shielded pool mechanism, which obscures transaction details through mixing, has expanded by over 400% since the Zodl wallet’s 2024 introduction.

ZODL characterized the successful raise as evidence of “strong conviction from some of the most respected investors in crypto.”

Blockchain data shows that crypto treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies recently transferred around 9,600 ETH to wallets linked to Coinbase’s institutional platform Coinbase Prime.

Bitmine transfers 9,600 ETH to Coinbase Prime

According to on-chain intelligence platform Arkham, the transactions moved roughly 9,600 Ethereum (ETH), worth about $19–20 million at current prices, from Bitmine-controlled wallets to Coinbase Prime addresses.

Such transfers are commonly associated with institutional custody management, liquidity provisioning, or over-the-counter trading activity. The first transfer sent 5,300 ETH worth $10.75 million followed by a second batch of 4,308 ETH worth $8.74 million.

Despite the movement, Arkham data indicates that Bitmine continues to control more than 1 million ETH across tracked wallets, while a large portion of its holdings, around 3.04 million ETH, are staked.

Large transfers to Coinbase Prime are often linked to institutional custody management, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, or liquidity provisioning, rather than immediate spot market selling.

The company has emerged as one of the most aggressive corporate accumulators of Ethereum. Its strategy mirrors the corporate Bitcoin treasury model popularized by companies like MicroStrategy, but with a focus on Ethereum as the primary reserve asset.

Bitmine has dramatically expanded its ETH holdings in recent months as part of a large-scale buying spree. The company now holds over 4.5 million ETH tokens worth more than $9 billion, making it one of the largest institutional holders of the asset.

The firm has repeatedly added tens of thousands of ETH during market pullbacks, including purchases of more than 50,000 ETH in a single week, signaling strong long-term conviction in the network’s growth and institutional adoption.

This aggressive accumulation has drawn investor attention, particularly as Bitmine positions itself as a publicly traded vehicle for exposure to Ethereum. The company’s stock, traded under the ticker BMNR, has also shown signs of recovery alongside renewed buying activity and broader crypto market stabilization.

While the latest transfer represents only a small portion of its total reserves, it highlights the scale of Bitmine’s treasury operations and the growing role of large corporate entities in Ethereum markets.

Key Highlights

• PI experienced a ~7% price increase on March 10, while trading volume exploded over 65% to reach $39.7 million
• Crypto analyst Dr. Altcoin forecasts PI reaching $0.50 within the week, citing Pi Day on March 14 as a major catalyst
• Scheduled network enhancements are set for completion by March 12, bringing anticipated DeFi capabilities
• Should Kraken announce a listing, the analyst suggests PI could surge to $0.75
• The token has gained approximately 70% from its record low and successfully breached critical resistance zones

The PI token from Pi Network recorded approximately 3% gains on March 9, bouncing back from a 5% decline the previous day. Throughout the last week, the cryptocurrency advanced from $0.166 to approximately $0.221, delivering stronger performance than both Bitcoin and Ethereum during this timeframe.

Trading activity has experienced a dramatic uptick. A month ago, daily volume barely reached $10 million. Current data from CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap shows it has rocketed past $400 million.

Cryptocurrency analyst Dr. Altcoin shared on X that PI may achieve the $0.50 milestone within the coming days. This represents approximately 130% appreciation from present values and would mark the token’s peak price point since July 2025.

His analysis identifies four key catalysts: the March 14 Pi Day celebration, escalating trading volumes, sustained price momentum, and speculation around a Kraken exchange integration.

Pi Day Celebration and Technical Enhancements

March 14 represents Pi Day, a significant annual milestone within the Pi Network ecosystem. Historically, the development team has leveraged this date to reveal substantial announcements and strategic roadmap developments.

Planned network improvements are targeted for completion by March 12. Fresh DeFi infrastructure, potentially featuring a PiDEX or automated market maker system, is anticipated to go live during this window.

The Pi Network development team utilized the first mainnet anniversary celebration in February to communicate strategic objectives encompassing artificial intelligence integration, accelerated KYC verification processes, and plans for a KYC-as-a-Service offering.

Chart Analysis and Price Targets

From a technical perspective, PI has climbed above its 100-day Exponential Moving Average. The Supertrend technical indicator has switched from bearish red to bullish green for the first time in several months.

The cryptocurrency successfully penetrated the $0.2146 barrier, which represented its January peak. The Percentage Price Oscillator has moved into positive territory and displays upward momentum.

Critical support exists within the $0.20 to $0.204 range. Maintaining prices above this area preserves the bullish technical structure. Falling beneath $0.20 could trigger a pullback toward $0.186.

Immediate resistance zones appear at $0.237, followed by $0.29. Clearing these barriers would bring the $0.50 projection into realistic territory.

Dr. Altcoin further noted that an official Kraken listing confirmation coinciding with Pi Day celebrations might propel PI toward the $0.75 level.

PI secured a position among the most-tracked cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap on March 10, indicating heightened retail investor attention building ahead of the upcoming event.

The countdown stands at five days until March 14 arrives.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds posted net inflows on Monday, snapping a two-session stretch of outflows as Bitcoin rose toward $70,000 and investor demand returned to the largest cryptocurrency.

Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs recorded $167 million of inflows on Monday, following around $577 million in outflows on Thursday and Friday, according to SoSoValue data.

Demand was weaker across other crypto-linked ETFs. Altcoin funds experienced significant selling pressure, with outflows persisting across Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) ETFs even as the underlying tokens rose 3-5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

The gains followed US President Donald Trump telling reporters on Monday that the war with Iran could be coming to an end, easing geopolitical fears and pushing oil prices lower.

Ether, XRP and Solana now on a three-day outflow streak

Ether, XRP and Solana ETFs saw outflows totaling $51 million, $18 million and $2.5 million, respectively, on Monday, according to SoSoValue. This marked a three-day outflow streak, with Ether seeing the largest cumulative losses at $225 million.

While ETH and SOL selling have been subsiding over the past three trading sessions, XRP outflows increased, totaling around $41 million since Thursday. Solana’s outflows amounted to roughly $16 million over the same period.

Related: Crypto funds gain $619M as markets hold up despite oil and war fears

The sideways trading in crypto ETFs came as analysts warned that it’s still early to declare a structural bottom in Bitcoin, which traded at $70,015 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko.

CryptoQuant’s analyst IT cited the Bitcoin long-term holder to short-term holder spent output profit ratio, which hit 0.89, showing short-term holders selling at a loss.

The data suggests market stress is building, but has not yet reached capitulation levels, meaning a clearer bottom may still be ahead.

Magazine: The debate over Bitcoin’s four-year cycle is over: Benjamin Cowen