‘Hedge Against Bitcoin’ Outperforms BTC Amid Crypto Market Dip On Record Shielded Supply

• ZEC’s rally coincided with a record 5.18 million ZEC held in shielded pools, representing over 31% of total supply.
• Bitcoin’s price slipped around 1% and continued to struggle to maintain levels above $70,000.
• The overall crypto market declined about 1%, with $163 million in liquidations led by Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Privacy token Zcash (ZEC), called the “hedge against Bitcoin” by people like investor Naval Ravikant and Grayscale chairman Barry Silbert, outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) in early morning trade on Tuesday amid the selloff in the cryptocurrency market. 

ZEC’s price rose nearly 5% in the last 24 hours to around $268, but remained over 60% below its 52-week high of $744.13, seen in November. The surge comes as on-chain data showed a record 5.18 million of total shielded ZEC, accounting for 31.14% of Zcash’s total supply and worth around $1.38 billion.

The token was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. Retail sentiment around the altcoin remained in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by chatter at ‘high’ levels. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price fell 1% in the last 24 hours to around $69,100. The apex cryptocurrency has been struggling to stay above $70,000. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BTC remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, accompanied by ‘normal’ levels of chatter over the past day. 

What Are Retail Traders Saying About Zcash?

One user on Stocktwits said he expects Zcash’s price to post a bullish break to $400 and $500 on news of new record highs of ZEC in shielded pools.

Another trader said that Zcash is likely to flip Bitcoin once quantum technology breaks its cryptography. According to a recent Google research report, quantum technology will take just 9 minutes to break the code of Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, by 2029.

Zcash allows shielded transactions that keep private information off the public ledger. Last year, Ravikant said, “Zcash is insurance against Bitcoin,” if Bitcoin is insurance against fiat.

Meanwhile, Grayscale chairman Berry Silbert has stated that privacy-focused crypto projects like Zcash can deliver up to 500x returns in the long run because they serve as a useful safeguard when privacy concerns intensify. “Zcash is a great hedge,” he said.

Cryptocurrency Market Reverses Monday’s Gains

Bitcoin’s price fell to $69,000 on Tuesday morning after touching $70,200 in the last 24 hours. The overall cryptocurrency market dropped 1% to around $2.43 trillion. CoinGlass data showed $163 million in liquidations over the past day, with Bitcoin accounting for $64 million and Ethereum (ETH) for $35 million. 

Ethereum’s price dipped 1.4% in the last 24 hours, but remained above the $2,100 mark. Cardano (ADA) was the worst hit among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. ADA’s price dropped over 5% in the last 24 hours to around $0.24. 

Solana (SOL) and Ripple’s XRP (XRP) also tumbled in early morning trade. Solana’s price fell 2.8% to around $80.18, while XRP’s price dipped 2.5% to around $1.32. 

Read also: $280M Drift Protocol Hack Mirrors $1.5B Bybit Breach – Ledger CTO Says Signers ‘Unknowingly’ Authorized Drain

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