Zcash Hits New YTD Excessive
Privateness coin Zcash (ZEC) surged to a brand new year-to-date excessive on Might 20 amid a tepid cryptocurrency rally that additionally noticed bitcoin briefly reclaim $78,000. Market information present ZEC jumped from $568 to an intraday peak of $686 in simply over six hours, a rise of greater than 17% over a 24-hour window.
Though it later retreated barely, the privateness coin was nonetheless above $660 on the time of writing at 3:18 a.m. EST on Might 21, leaving its day by day good points properly above 10%. ZEC’s newest surge lifted its weekly good points simply above 25% and greater than 90% for the reason that starting of the month. As a consequence, the privateness coin, which kicked off the month with an combination worth of beneath $6 billion, noticed its market cap surpass the $11 billion threshold.
Within the meantime, ZEC’s newest parabolic rally noticed $28.25 million in leveraged positions on the asset liquidated over 24 hours, the second highest this yr. Coinglass information present liquidated quick bets accounted for almost $26.5 million, with the most important single liquidation of $2.68 million recorded.
Since early Might, ZEC’s worth has climbed steadily, fueled by high-profile endorsements from advocates who view it because the true embodiment of monetary privateness—a trait critics argue bitcoin has misplaced. This renewed privateness narrative, coupled with an structure extensively thought-about superior to its rivals, helped ZEC eclipse Monero, which held a $7.3 billion market cap on the time of writing.
ZEC’s resurgence has even caught the eye of The Wall Avenue Journal, which lately dubbed the token a “extra secret model of bitcoin.” In the meantime, digital asset supervisor Grayscale contends that monetary privateness will outline the subsequent crypto cycle, with ZEC main the cost.
On social media, some supporters of the privateness coin, like David Hoffman, consider ZEC — at the moment ranked thirteenth — deserves a spot within the prime 10 digital belongings by market cap. Nevertheless, for the privateness coin to attain that, its value must surpass the $1,000 threshold to overhaul DOGE, whose market cap stood at $16.25 billion. The final time ZEC traded above $1,000 was within the fourth quarter of 2016.
In the meantime, some critics see dangers related to the privateness coin’s sudden surge. Ted Pillows argued that the bounce was, actually, a brief squeeze disguised as natural demand.
“Zcash hasn’t abruptly solved adoption, liquidity, or regulatory headwinds in a single day,” Pillows stated in a submit on X. “This seems way more like a coordinated squeeze than natural demand. Low float + skinny liquidity + aggressive perp positioning = violent upside candles.”
