Zcash and NEAR drive crypto bull run with privacy features

Mert: Mert Mumtaz is the co-founder and CEO of Helius, a Solana-focused infrastructure company, and a prominent voice advocating for privacy in crypto. In the news, he explains the downsides of transparent bridges and endorses Zcash and NEAR Intents for private transactions in everyday and business scenarios. NEAR: NEAR is a scalable blockchain protocol focused on usability, with growing emphasis on confidential execution through mechanisms like MPC, secure enclaves, and Intents for cross-chain actions. In this news, it is positioned as a key player in privacy-preserving liquidity and real-world business applications when paired with Zcash. Illia: Illia Polosukhin is the co-founder of NEAR Protocol and a co-author of the influential Transformer AI paper. In this news, he participates in the discussion on NEAR's confidential transaction capabilities and their role in advancing practical crypto adoption. Zcash: Zcash is a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency that uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable shielded transactions and confidential balances. In the context of this news, its features are highlighted as a solution to business risks like visible balances and as a driver of recent market attention alongside NEAR's privacy tools. Business Relevance: Confidential transactions address risks such as service providers seeing user balances, making privacy a practical tool for retention and usability in real business contexts. Privacy Technology: Zcash relies on zero-knowledge proofs while NEAR uses MPC and secure enclaves to deliver confidentiality without exposing transaction details. Cross-Chain Integration: NEAR Intents facilitate private swaps and liquidity across chains, enabling combined use of Zcash's shielded assets with broader DeFi capabilities.