Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash has surged into the spotlight following an explosive rally that propelled the token past $700, establishing ZEC as the third-most traded altcoin by volume behind only Ethereum and Solana. The remarkable ascent signals a broader market rotation toward privacy-preserving digital assets as regulatory scrutiny intensifies and institutional players reassess their cryptocurrency allocations.
As of November 17, Zcash recorded $4.38 billion in 24-hour trading volume, trailing Ethereum's $35.48 billion and Solana's $5.29 billion but surpassing the trading activity of established projects including Cardano, Ripple, and Polkadot. The token currently trades near $692, representing a 217% gain over the past month despite a modest 2% pullback in the past 24 hours.
The rally gained significant momentum following BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes' disclosure that Zcash has become the second-largest liquid holding in his family office Maelstrom, trailing only Bitcoin. "Due to the rapid ascent in price, ZEC is now the 2nd largest LIQUID holding in MaelstromFund portfolio behind BTC," Hayes wrote on social media platform X.
Hayes, known for prescient market calls, has floated an ambitious $10,000 price target for ZEC, characterizing the privacy coin as a compelling alternative to XRP and a potential "privacy hedge" against Bitcoin's transparent ledger. His endorsement carries substantial weight given Maelstrom's track record navigating cryptocurrency market cycles.
The institutional validation extended beyond Hayes' personal allocation. Tyler Winklevoss revealed that his family's venture capital firm Winklevoss Capital has backed Cypherpunk Technologies, a newly-formed digital asset treasury company that acquired approximately 203,775 ZEC tokens at an average price of $245. The firm aims to accumulate at least 5% of Zcash's total supply, mirroring MicroStrategy's Bitcoin treasury strategy.
"We feel strongly that Zcash could become a meaningful percentage of Bitcoin's market capitalization - just on the merits of it being a privacy hedge or insurance policy to Bitcoin's transparency," Winklevoss stated, framing ZEC as complementary rather than competitive to the leading cryptocurrency.
Technical Foundations Drive Organic Adoption
Beyond high-profile endorsements, Zcash's surge reflects genuine network adoption driven by its zero-knowledge proof technology. The blockchain's shielded pool has reached 23% of total supply, up from 18% in October, representing nearly 4.9 million ZEC tokens utilizing privacy features - a record high demonstrating organic user demand rather than mere speculative positioning.
The shielded pool employs zk-SNARKs (zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge) to enable fully encrypted transactions where sending addresses, receiving addresses, and transaction amounts remain completely hidden while maintaining blockchain verifiability. Unlike pseudonymous cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin where transactions can be traced through blockchain analysis, Zcash's privacy guarantees remain mathematically sound.
Recent infrastructure improvements have accelerated shielded adoption. The Zashi Wallet rolled out direct purchases of shielded ZEC via NEAR Intents, addressing longstanding usability barriers that previously required users to first acquire transparent ZEC before converting to shielded coins. Additionally, Gemini and the Electric Coin Company introduced support for withdrawing ZEC directly into the Orchard shielded pool, making private transactions the default rather than optional.
Market Dynamics and Technical Indicators
Analyst Eric Van Tassel noted the sustainability of Zcash's price action given its prolonged consolidation period. "Since it broke out of the wedge pattern at around $62, in three days it moved up 143%. In the next 36 days, up to the current high price, it rose 555%," he explained, highlighting that the rally included six healthy pullbacks ranging between 20% and 43%, suggesting genuine accumulation rather than unsustainable speculation.
Zcash's market capitalization now stands at $11.3 billion, placing it within the top 20 cryptocurrencies - a ranking it reclaimed following the recent surge. The token's circulating supply of 16.31 million ZEC represents approximately 78% of its maximum 21 million supply cap, mirroring Bitcoin's scarcity model and approaching a scheduled halving event on November 18 that will reduce block rewards from 1.5625 ZEC to 0.78125 ZEC.
Historical precedent suggests halvings catalyze price appreciation through supply constraints. The 2024 halving preceded a 1,400% price surge over the subsequent 12 months, though causation versus correlation remains subject to debate among analysts.
Privacy Sector Experiences Broad Resurgence
Zcash's outperformance reflects broader momentum across privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Competitors including Dash, Decred, and ZKsync posted triple-digit percentage gains over the past week, collectively pushing the privacy sector's market capitalization past $43 billion. The rotation gained steam as Bitcoin and Ethereum consolidated near psychologically significant price levels, prompting traders to reallocate capital toward higher-beta alternatives.
Zcash Foundation executive director Alex Bornstein characterized the resurgence as entirely organic, driven by escalating public concerns over government surveillance and financial data control. Speaking on Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction show, Bornstein emphasized that the nonprofit foundation had no involvement in coordinating the rally, noting surprise at the grassroots momentum that emerged spontaneously across social media platforms.
Final thoughts
Despite bullish momentum, Zcash faces substantial challenges. European Union regulators continue advancing restrictions on anonymous cryptocurrency transactions through the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, with potential prohibitions on privacy coins taking effect in 2027. Some exchanges have already delisted privacy-focused tokens in anticipation of stricter compliance requirements.
Moreover, reaching market capitalizations comparable to Ethereum or Solana requires implausible capital inflows under current conditions. ZEC would need to appreciate to approximately $8,000 - representing an 11x increase - to match Solana's $130 billion market capitalization. Overtaking Ethereum's $385 billion valuation would require ZEC reaching $23,400, a 33x multiple from current levels.
Such scenarios remain mathematically possible but would necessitate transformational shifts in mainstream cryptocurrency adoption patterns and regulatory frameworks. For now, Zcash's third-place trading volume ranking represents momentum rather than permanence, with sustainability dependent on continued privacy demand, institutional accumulation, and regulatory accommodation of encrypted financial transactions.