Zcash is testing resistance near $420 as trading volume surged and institutional accumulation signals renewed interest in the privacy-focused cryptocurrency.
ZEC traded around $395 on Monday, marking an 11% gain over 24 hours and an 18% weekly increase.
The privacy coin remains down 27% over the past month following a sharp correction from November highs above $700.
What Happened
Trading activity spiked during Monday's rebound.
Spot volume reached $1.28 billion in 24 hours, nearly doubling from the previous day.
Futures volume climbed more than 100% to $5.5 billion, while open interest rose 21% to $895 million.
Bitget added ZEC spot trading on December 3, triggering a double-digit intraday gain and expanding access for its 120 million users.
The listing came as privacy coins returned to the spotlight, with shielded pool usage climbing to 30% of supply.
Institutional activity accelerated in November when Cypherpunk Technologies, backed by the Winklevoss twins, announced a $100 million ZEC treasury.
The firm acquired 233,644 ZEC and revealed plans to scale holdings toward 5% of total supply.
Grayscale filed on November 26 to convert its Zcash Trust into the first U.S. spot ETF tracking the privacy coin.
The trust held $199 million in assets at filing, with shares expected to trade on NYSE Arca under ticker ZCSH if approved.
However, regulatory headwinds emerged as Bithumb delisted ZEC on December 1 under Europe's MiCA 2.0 rules.
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The move highlighted the growing regional divide on privacy coins, even as U.S. exchanges maintained listings.
Why It Matters
The convergence of exchange listings, institutional treasury builds, and ETF filings marks a turning point for privacy coins after years of regulatory pressure.
Zcash now holds the largest market cap among privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, surpassing Monero following its 1,000% rally in 2025.
The technical setup shows ZEC testing a multi-month symmetrical triangle pattern near $420 resistance.
A daily close above this level could open the door toward $460-$500, according to analysts.
But failure to break resistance may expose support zones at $350 and $300.
The relative strength index has rebounded into the mid-40s after reaching oversold levels, showing early momentum stabilization without confirming a trend reversal.
Zcash's post-halving issuance remains tight, with roughly 30% of transactions now using shielded pools that encrypt sender, receiver, and amount data.
The sharp increase in leveraged positions and open interest suggests traders are positioning for volatility, with the next breakout likely to determine December's direction.
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