Zcash has had a wild autumn: two new ETF filings, a Grayscale report saying Zcash mining beats Bitcoin per machine, and a 16% one-day drop. Here is how the Zcash miners on sale compare at today's numbers, and what to watch before buying.
By Michal Beno, CEO, OneMiners16 October 2026
The Antminer Z15 Pro is still the Zcash miner to compare everything against. At today's numbers (ZEC $1,241, network 29.8 GSol/s) an 840 KSol/s Z15 Pro mines about 0.041 ZEC a day, worth about $50 before power. At $0.048 per kWh its electricity costs about $3.20 a day. That is roughly 2.2 times the daily revenue of an Antminer S23 Hyd on Bitcoin. The catch is the coin: ZEC fell 16% in one day on 8 October, and every number here moves with its price.
0.041
ZEC per day, Z15 Pro 840K
$47
net per day at 4.8 cents per kWh, today
$0.76
break-even power price per kWh
2.5x
rise in Zcash mining activity this year (Grayscale)
Blockchair Zcash stats and CoinGecko, 14 October 2026; OneMiners catalogue; Grayscale Research via Bitcoin.com News, 12 September 2026. Net is before pool fees.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Why Zcash mining is back in the news
Three things happened in a few weeks. First, Grayscale Research published an analysis on 11 September 2026 saying Zcash mining activity had risen more than 2.5 times this year, and that a Zcash ASIC earned about twice what a top Bitcoin miner earned per day (Bitcoin.com News, 12 September). Second, the ETF race started: Grayscale's Zcash Trust became a listed ETF in August, Bitwise filed for one, and on 6 October the Winklevoss twins' company filed for a spot Zcash ETF on Nasdaq (The Block). Third, the price swung hard: ZEC fell about 16% on 8 October, wiping out the gains since mid-September, but was still up more than 120% for the year.
The Zcash miners on sale, compared
Zcash uses the Equihash algorithm, so it needs its own ASICs; a Bitcoin miner cannot mine it. In practice the market is the Bitmain Z15 family. The Z15 Pro comes in several hashrate grades with almost the same efficiency, so the choice is mostly about price per KSol/s and delivery.
Zcash miners at today's numbers
Prices: OneMiners catalogue, 14 October 2026. Revenue at ZEC $1,241.40 and 29.76 GSol/s network hashrate (Blockchair, 14 October 2026), miner reward 1.25 ZEC per block. Net after power at $0.048 per kWh, before pool fees. Z15 power is Bitmain's 2020 launch spec.
All Z15 Pro grades earn within a few dollars of each other because they share the same chip efficiency, about 3.3 joules per KSol. That efficiency gives a very high break-even power price of about $0.76 per kWh, so on hosting rates power is a small cost. The older Z15 does about half the work for about half the power, so it is a cheaper way in, but it is sold used and has no new-unit warranty.
Zcash versus Bitcoin: per machine and per kWh
Revenue per day, before power
US dollars per machine at today's numbers
Zcash: Blockchair and CoinGecko, 14 October 2026. Bitcoin: difficulty 132.72T and BTC $83,399 (mempool.space, CoinGecko, 14 October 2026), block subsidy only.
Per machine, the Z15 Pro brings in about 2.2 times more revenue than the S23 Hyd. Per kWh the gap is wider, because the Z15 Pro uses half the power: about $0.76 of ZEC per kWh against about $0.17 of BTC. That matches Grayscale's 'twice per rig, four times per MWh' finding. But all Bitcoin miners together earn about $37.5 million a day, against about $1.8 million for all Zcash miners, so Zcash is a much smaller and more volatile market. Many miners hold both: Bitcoin as the base and Zcash for extra margin.
What a Z15 Pro nets at different ZEC prices
US dollars per day after power at 4.8 cents per kWh, today's network hashrate
If more miners join, each machine's share shrinks, so the same price earns less. Scenario only, not a forecast.
What changes with NU7 on 5 November
Zcash's next network upgrade, NU7, is targeted for 5 November 2026, with the final activation height due to be set around 20 October (crypto.news, Crypto Briefing). It brings three changes miners should know: block time drops from 75 to 25 seconds while the reward per block is cut so daily issuance stays the same; a new mechanism removes at least 60% of transaction fees from circulation; and old Sprout-era transactions are switched off. Coinholders also voted, with about 98.9% support, to keep the halving schedule. The current subsidy is 1.5625 ZEC per block, of which miners receive 80%; the next halving is expected in late 2028. Miners should update pool settings if their pool asks, but the expected ZEC per day per machine does not change.
Where to mine Zcash after Binance Pool closes
Binance Pool shuts down on 10 November 2026, and its Zcash pool goes with it. The large Zcash pools are ViaBTC, F2Pool and Luxor, with Foundry running a Zcash pool since April 2026. F2Pool publishes PPS+ 3% with a 0.1 ZEC minimum payout; ViaBTC publishes PPS+ 4% or PPLNS 2%. Read the full switch plan in Binance Pool Is Closing: The Best Mining Pools to Switch To.
Should you buy a Zcash miner now?
The machine numbers are strong at today's price, and the ETF filings bring new attention to Zcash. The risks are just as clear: ZEC can lose a sixth of its value in a day, more hashrate is joining, and new units are in short supply because demand is high. A sensible way to think about it is as a smaller, higher-risk add-on to Bitcoin mining, sized so that a big ZEC drop does not hurt the whole plan. Check your own numbers with the mining calculators and read the Antminer Z15 Pro review.
Zcash is the strongest altcoin mining case of 2026 per machine, and the Z15 Pro remains the benchmark. OneMiners hosts Zcash miners alongside Bitcoin miners, with hosting from $0.048 per kWh and from $0.0364 per kWh on a 7-year prepaid contract. Because Zcash revenue swings with the price, a low, fixed power price matters even more: it is the one cost a miner can control.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Zcash miner in 2026?
The Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro. All its grades (800 to 860 KSol/s) share the same efficiency of about 3.3 J per KSol, so the best pick is the grade with the lowest price per KSol/s.
How much Zcash does a Z15 Pro mine per day?
About 0.041 ZEC a day for the 840 KSol/s version at today's network hashrate of about 29.8 GSol/s. It falls as more miners join.
Is Zcash mining more profitable than Bitcoin mining?
Per machine, yes at today's numbers: a Z15 Pro earns about twice an S23 Hyd before power. But Zcash is a much smaller market and its price swings more.
Will NU7 change Zcash mining rewards?
Daily issuance stays the same. Blocks come every 25 seconds instead of 75, with a smaller reward per block, so ZEC per day per machine should not change.
Is there a Zcash ETF?
Grayscale's Zcash ETF (ZCSH) has traded on NYSE Arca since 25 August 2026. Bitwise and Winklevoss Asset Services (WINK) have filed for spot Zcash ETFs; those are not approved yet.
Can a Bitcoin miner mine Zcash?
No. Zcash uses the Equihash algorithm, which needs Equihash ASICs such as the Antminer Z15 family.
Mine Zcash next to Bitcoin on a low, fixed power price.
See Zcash minersSee hosting locationsSOURCES AND DATA
- Grayscale Research, Zcash mining analysis, 11 September 2026, as reported by Bitcoin.com News, 12 September 2026
- Winklevoss spot Zcash ETF (WINK) S-1 and Bitwise filing: The Block, 6 October 2026
- Grayscale Zcash ETF (ZCSH) listing: Crypto Briefing, September 2026
- ZEC drop of 8 October: Bitcoin.com News, 8 October 2026
- NU7 upgrade: crypto.news, 18 September 2026; Crypto Briefing, October 2026
- Zcash block subsidy and miner share: ViaBTC Zcash guide, 10 September 2026
- Zcash pools and fees: F2Pool fee page, read 14 October 2026; ViaBTC, 10 September 2026; Foundry Zcash pool launch, 13 April 2026
- Zcash network hashrate and difficulty: Blockchair, 14 October 2026; ZEC and BTC prices: CoinGecko, 14 October 2026
- Antminer Z15 (420 KSol/s, 1,510 W) launch specification: CriptoNoticias, 2020
- Miner prices and specs: OneMiners catalogue, 14 October 2026
Michal Beno
CEO of OneMiners, the global Bitcoin mining hosting and hardware platform with 15 published hosting locations, 7-year fixed electricity contracts and a 7-year hardware warranty. He writes about the economics of industrial Bitcoin mining.
Informational only, not financial advice. Figures are a snapshot from public market data, news reports and the OneMiners catalogue as of 14 October 2026 and can change quickly. Net-per-day figures are at today's numbers, before pool fees, and are not a forecast. Crypto prices can fall as well as rise. No return is offered or implied. Do your own research.
