Z Protocol (“Z”), a programmable privacy platform for autonomous applications and anonymous activities, today announced its partnership with Core Foundation, the steward of the Core blockchain and creator of the Satoshi Plus consensus. Through this partnership, Z leverages Core’s proven infrastructure and receives support from Core Foundation to accelerate the expansion of Satoshi Plus.
Z is built at the intersection of two converging trends: the rise of AI-based surveillance and the growing role of AI agents in on-chain activity.
When agents act on behalf of users at scale, they generate much more observable activity, while AI reduces the cost of analyzing it to near zero, turning routine interactions into a persistent record of the humans behind them. Z is designed for this reality. Powered by Zcash, Z allows autonomous systems to operate anonymously.
In practice, Z integrates three fundamental design pillars at the protocol level:
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Confidentiality: Assets are held in a protected pool where balances are hidden. Each interaction with the application goes through a new stealth address unrelated to the identity of the holder, then the assets re-enter the pool. No interaction shares an address, making the activity impossible to associate with the actor behind it.
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Tools: Z provides standardized interfaces, application-specific integrations, and controlled execution environments, including session-based permissions with constraints such as spending limits, time limits, and approved contract access, allowing users to set parameters while their autonomous systems run on them.
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Coordination: Designed for seamless activity between applications, the Zcosystem is a vertically integrated application layer covering private trading (Z Trade), lending (Z Lend), stablecoins (USDZ), staking (stZEC) and more.
Z is secured by a Zcash-based implementation of the Satoshi Plus model, allowing participation of ZEC miners, ZEC holders and Z token stakers.
Original lead contributor Kieran Dennis is moving to Z Protocol as a co-founder, leading its strategy, development and go-to-market.
“AI agents are the most exposed actors in the chain and the least equipped to do so. They transact at a scale that humans never will, and each transaction becomes a permanent record of their principal’s strategy, relationships and finances,” said Kieran Dennis, co-founder of Z and lead initial contributor. “If you want privacy for humans, you start by giving their agents private rails. That’s Z.”
This partnership represents a natural expansion of Core’s role as an infrastructure supporting revenue-generating systems. As part of the partnership, Z is introducing mechanisms aligned with the broader Core ecosystem, including transaction fee-based CORE buybacks and preferential access to initial token airdrops and distributions for CORE token holders.
“Core’s revenue roadmap is focused on powering revenue-generating systems,” said Brendon Sedo, original contributor to Core. “Z fits perfectly into the roadmap by extending Core’s infrastructure to Zcash, allowing more value to flow to CORE token holders.”
It is expected to launch in Q2 2026. Z actively leverages ZEC’s latent capital through a privacy-preserving, vertically integrated, revenue-generating application stack.
About Z Protocol
Z is the privacy platform for AI agents and their humans. Powered by Zcash, Z offers a vertically integrated stack of standalone applications for anonymous activities, including private trading (Z Trade), lending and borrowing (Z Lend), a private stablecoin (USDZ), private yield-bearing dollars (yUSDZ), liquid staking (stZEC/stZ), and more. Z is secured by the Zcash Satoshi Plus (ZSP) consensus, which unites Zcash miners, ZEC holders and Z token stakers.
About Core
Core is a blockchain network that serves as a coordination and revenue layer for Bitcoin-focused products and protocols. Since its launch in 2023, Core has focused on building revenue-generating protocols that generate value for its ecosystem, particularly in Bitcoin-based use cases such as yield generation and collateral utilization. Core also pioneered self-custodial Bitcoin staking, with over $150 million in BTC staked.
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