Grayscale Research has published an analysis comparing the profitability of Bitcoin and Zcash mining, revealing a significant gap in returns at the individual operator level despite Bitcoin's dominance in aggregate mining rewards.
According to the research, Bitcoin miners collectively earn approximately $35 million in daily rewards, far exceeding Zcash miners' roughly $2 million daily take. However, this disparity reverses when examining per-machine profitability.
Per-Machine and Per-Power Returns
Grayscale estimates that a typical Zcash mining rig delivers roughly twice the daily revenue of a comparable Bitcoin machine. On a power-consumption basis, the advantage widens considerably: Zcash mining generates about 4x the revenue per megawatt-hour relative to Bitcoin.
The elevated profitability largely stems from Zcash's recent price performance. The privacy coin crossed $1,000 for the first time in nearly a decade on September 4 and subsequently traded near $1,177, representing a roughly 15% gain over one week.
Rising Mining Activity
Stronger returns have attracted additional mining capacity. Zcash's total mining activity has risen more than 2.5x year-to-date, according to standardized hashrate metrics.
Hardware and Profit Constraints
A direct comparison between the two networks faces inherent limitations. Bitcoin uses SHA-256 ASICs, while Zcash depends on Equihash-optimized machines, preventing operators from simply redirecting equipment based on short-term profitability shifts.
Grayscale's analysis measures revenue rather than net profit. Actual earnings depend heavily on electricity costs, hardware prices, cooling expenses, and maintenance fees, meaning the efficiency advantage does not translate uniformly across all operations.
Market Context
Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into a spot ETF, ZCSH, which listed on NYSE Arca on August 25 and accumulated more than $500 million in assets within two weeks.
Mining economics remain volatile. Rising network difficulty, fluctuating electricity costs, and price swings inherent to both assets mean Zcash's current profitability advantage could narrow rapidly.
