ZCash's shielded pool has reached 23% of total supply, up from 18% in October, marking a steady progression in network privacy adoption.

The shielded pool functions by obscuring transaction details, making the entire network more difficult to trace as more  ZEC -9.49%

 enters this private state.

As covered in previous issues of The Block's Data and Insights newsletter, shielding requires direct interaction with the chain, making it a useful indicator of genuine network usage rather than pure speculative positioning.

The growth in shielded supply offers an interesting parallel to Ethereum's staking dynamics. Approximately 30% of ETH is currently staked to secure the network, and it will be worth monitoring whether ZEC experiences similar behavior or resistance as it approaches this threshold. 

Both metrics reflect active participation in network operations rather than passive holding.