Zcash’s Rise Puts Privacy Back In The Crypto Spotlight

While bitcoin is bogged down in divisive institutional adoption, an old privacy token makes a spectacular comeback. In five weeks, Zcash (ZEC) went from obscurity to a +900 % surge, reaching up to 735 dollars this Friday, an unprecedented high in nearly eight years. Stabilized around 666 dollars, the asset still shows a 74 % increase over the week. This unexpected rebound shakes the market and revives the debate on crypto privacy.

Zcash breaks records : a look back at a historic rally

This Friday, November 7, Zcash shook the market by soaring 33 % in a few hours, reaching a peak at 735 dollars before retracting around 666 dollars, while ECC had unveiled its technical strategy for a more confidential and robust token.

This surge resulted in the liquidation of more than 51 million dollars of short positions, propelling ZEC to the third position among the most liquidated assets of the day, behind bitcoin ($150M) and Ethereum ($146M).

Here are the key points and events to remember :

• +33 % in 24 hours on November 7, an intraday peak at $735, and closing at $666 ;

• +74 % increase over the week, one of the strongest performances among the top 100 crypto ;

• Massive liquidations : over $51M of short positions liquidated, across all products ;

• ZEC becomes the third most liquidated asset, after BTC and ETH ;

• +900 % in 5 weeks, after stagnating around $40 for more than three years ;

• Despite this leap, Zcash remains 79 % below its ATH of $3,191 (2016) ;

• This price reached is the highest since January 2018.

The origin of this explosion does not rely solely on the sudden market interest but also on a domino effect related to the asset’s historically low liquidity and the leverage used by many traders.

A resurgence fueled by distrust and politics

Beyond the market movements alone, Zcash’s rise also seems fueled by deeper concerns. Several analysts link this rally to growing doubts about bitcoin’s ability to remain a truly decentralized and privacy-respecting tool.

Will Owens, an analyst at Galaxy Digital, speaks of a spiritual heir to bitcoin. “Zcash is gradually establishing itself as an alternative to Bitcoin”, he notes in a report. He explains that interest in ZEC is based on “its ideals of privacy and decentralization dear to cypherpunks”, in a context where institutional adoption of bitcoin breeds mistrust and skepticism.

While bitcoin moves closer to major financial hubs via ETFs and derivatives, Zcash establishes itself as a radical alternative, founded on anonymity and technological independence.

However, another factor played a significant triggering role: the sentencing this Thursday, November 6, of Keonne Rodriguez, developer of Samourai Wallet, to five years in prison. This verdict, in an unlicensed money transmission case, was sharply criticized by digital privacy advocates.

The severity of this sentence, the maximum penalty, may have been perceived as a warning signal by the crypto community, accelerating renewed interest in projects focused on native privacy, like Zcash. In this regard, the ZEC rally may not be purely speculative but also reactive to a tense judicial and political atmosphere around privacy-preserving technologies.