Zcash (ZEC) is trading near $1,250 on November 8, 2026, after pulling back from its September peak around $1,650. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency has a market capitalization close to $21 billion, and daily trading volume is about $746 million according to CoinMarketCap data. The price has been consolidating between $1,100 and $1,350, with immediate resistance at $1,315–$1,350 and support at $1,200, followed by $1,100 and the psychological $1,000 level.
A major network change is now live: Network Upgrade 7 (NU7) went live on November 5, cutting target block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. That makes shielded payments significantly faster. NU7 also introduces a Network Sustainability Mechanism that allocates 60% of transaction fees to a reserve for future miner rewards, while the 21 million coin supply cap remains unchanged. Shielded Labs has separately launched an effort called Epoch to protect Zcash against future quantum-computing attacks, with completion targeted by the end of 2027. The next Zcash halving is expected around November 2028.
On the market side, analyst Bob Loukas noted on X that ZEC is showing a pattern similar to late last year and is riding its 10-week moving average after a surge. He said a retest of the breakout zone around $750 would be an excellent entry opportunity if the price gets there. Longer-term algorithm-based projections vary: PrimeXBT’s 2029 model averages around $1,543 with a range of $1,119 to $1,927, while CryptoSlate’s central estimate is near $2,007. A bullish case of $2,500 to $3,000 would be roughly 140% above current levels at the top end.
In a separate on-chain development, Lookonchain reported that over a 20-hour period a wallet connected to Tornado Cash deposited 1,670 ETH worth about $3.73 million into Hyperliquid and sold the ETH to buy 2,959 ZEC, also worth about $3.73 million. Arkham also tracked the ETH-to-ZEC activity. Lookonchain commented that it appears the actor is selling ETH to buy ZEC, but the data only confirms the movement and swap, not the wallet owner or the original source of funds beyond the Tornado Cash connection.
