ZEC Breaks $600 Barrier, Hits $10 Billion Market Cap And Enters Top 20 Cryptos Amid Market Slump

• The token reached a seven-year high of $650 and was trading around $632 in early Friday trading.
• ZEC’s market capitalization surpassed $10 billion, overtaking Monero to rank among the top 20 cryptocurrencies on CoinGecko.
• Retail sentiment around ZEC on Stocktwits trended in ‘extremely bullish’ territory, accompanied by extremely high levels of chatter on Stocktwits.

ZCash (ZEC) surged over 18% in the last 24 hours, breaking the $600 barrier for the first time since 2018 and pushing its market capitalization above $10 billion, even as the broader crypto market slid.

ZEC’s price was trading at around $632 in early morning trade on Friday after hitting a seven-year high of $650. The token now ranks among the top 20 coins by market capitalization, overtaking Monero (XMR), according to data on CoinGecko.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cryptocurrency market declined 1.6% over the last 24 hours, with its market capitalization dropping to $3.4 trillion. Bitcoin (BTC) fell 2.8%, with retail traders wondering if it will be able to hold above $100,000.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the privacy coin trended in ‘extremely bullish’ territory, accompanied by ‘extremely high’ levels of chatter over the past day. ZEC was also among the top trending tickers on the platform among cryptocurrencies. 

Why Is ZCash Pumping?

A major unlock for Zcash came on October 1 when the project announced its decentralized on-ramp. The development became particularly relevant after Coinbase introduced a new session token authentication requirement that raised privacy concerns and wasn't compatible with Zashi's architecture.

According to Stocktwits analyst Jonathan Morgan, this may be the beginning of a slow rotation into not just ZEC, but privacy coins as a whole.  “Public ledgers looked noble in the brochure. Then regulators, chain data vendors, and a thousand subpoenas turned them into glass houses,” he wrote in Thursday’s newsletter, noting the tightening regulatory environment and KYC requirements on centralized exchanges.

A report by Galaxy Digital pointed out more than 30% of the Zcash supply is now hidden from the public eye in private pools — an all-time high for this metric. Research analyst Will Owens noted that the Zashi wallet has simplified private transactions, encouraging more users to move their holdings off public ledgers.

During the rally, annualized funding rates reached -141%, meaning shorts were paying longs nearly 0.4% every eight hours to maintain positions, according to Morgan. He said this could indicate heavy institutional shorting, sophisticated basis trades, or supply-demand imbalances triggering short squeezes.

ZEC Momentum Builds

Thor Torrens, former advisor to the POTUS on the ZCash Advisory Panel, compared buying ZCash at $600 to buying Bitcoin (BTC) at $20, in a post on X. 

Meanwhile, investor Gary Cordone noted that ZCash has performed better than most miners, altcoins, and AI stocks in the last 3 months. 

ZEC has gained nearly 1,300% over the past year and 350% in the past 30 days. High-profile endorsements, including Arthur Hayes’ $10,000 price target, have fueled buying interest, although critics warn that past recommendations have coincided with profit-taking at peaks. Economist Lyn Alden has warned investors against “coordinated token pumps.”

Network Upgrades And Regulatory Outlook

ZCash plans to further improve its protocol infrastructure. The upcoming Zebra 3.0.0 release candidate and Network Upgrade 6.1 aim to enhance privacy, scalability, and node performance, reinforcing its appeal to privacy-focused users, according to the company.

According to blockchain analytics firm ZChain, shielded supply of ZEC has crossed 5 million. However, from 2027, new EU AML rules will ban anonymous crypto accounts and the use of privacy coins, presenting regulatory headwinds for ZEC.

Read also: Dow Futures Edge Lower With Wall Street Heading For Worst Week In Over A Month: TSLA, EXPE, ABNB, OPEN Among Stocks To Watch

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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