Zcash (ZEC) has experienced a dramatic price surge, gaining over 70% in the past month and breaking an eight-year downward trend. At one point, ZEC climbed beyond $70, with weekly gains of 42% and monthly gains exceeding 73%. The daily trading volume reached $215.77 million, boosting its market capitalization to approximately $1.12 billion.
The rally is driven by the launch of Zashi Cross Pay on September 16, which enables private, cross-chain payments from shielded ZEC to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and stablecoins. This utility expansion, coupled with rising institutional interest amid increasing regulatory scrutiny on transparent blockchains, has positioned ZEC as a formidable competitor to Monero (XMR). ZEC's cryptographic privacy features, powered by zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs), are attracting investors seeking robust privacy solutions.
Technically, ZEC has broken out from a multi-year falling wedge pattern, with analysts targeting $81.81 based on Fibonacci extensions. Short-term projections range from $70 to $78, and a sustained move could reach $98, the resistance level from December 2024's high. Indicators like high RSI and rising MACD histogram confirm strong upward momentum.
Despite the gains, ZEC remains down 98% from its all-time high of $3,191 in October 2016, and it has faced challenges such as potential delistings from exchanges like Binance due to regulatory pressures and past security issues, including a mining pool controlling over 50% of the hashrate in September 2023. Prominent figures, including Helius Lab's CEO Mert, have expressed bullish views, favoring Zcash over Monero for its stronger privacy properties.
While short-term consolidation or profit-taking is possible, the long-term technical and fundamental outlook appears bullish, supported by growing demand for privacy coins and ZEC's evolving utility.
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