ZEC Price Surge: The Renaissance of Privacy Coins Amid Institutional Backing and Speculative Frenzy

Originally Posted by Akash Girimath

Original translation: Chopper, Foresight News

summary

• With the November halving approaching and the market's renewed interest in privacy-related assets, Zcash (ZEC) has once again become the focus, and traders are actively positioning themselves around the privacy coin narrative.
• Sources told Decrypt that despite limited on-chain growth, endorsements from well-known investors and heated discussions on privacy issues are still driving market activity.
• Some experts say the sustainability of this rally depends on market sentiment after the ZEC halving, and whether user adoption can break through short-term speculation and achieve substantial growth.

Driven by a combination of speculative enthusiasm and a resurgence of privacy concerns, Zcash saw triple-digit gains in 30 days, successfully surpassing its 2021 high. The privacy coin soared from a low of $54 to approximately $372 in a month, making it one of the market's best-performing assets.

ZEC historical price trends. Source: CoinMarketCap

The price is 11.5% higher than the closing price of $319 on May 8, 2021, but according to Coingecko data, it is still down 88% from the historical peak of $3,191.93 set nearly nine years ago.

Multiple catalysts create a perfect storm

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUCoin, said that Zcash’s rise is due to the perfect superposition of multiple catalysts:

1. The upcoming November halving. It is expected that on November 18, the Zcash block reward will be halved, from 3.125 ZEC to 1.5625 ZEC;
2. Rising privacy concerns are driving a resurgence in attention towards privacy coins;
3. Arthur Hayes's "target price of $10,000" sparked heated discussions in the market.

In the first week of October, Zcash saw its first significant upward breakout, triggered by endorsements from prominent investors such as Naval Ravikanth and support from Mert Mumtaz, a former Coinbase engineer and CEO of Helius.

As Decrypt previously reported, Grayscale’s decision to allow accredited investors to invest in ZEC tokens further fueled Zcash’s upward trend in the second half of the month.

The resurgence in interest in privacy coins has also boosted the sector. Over the past week, Monero and Dash have risen 9.1% and 12.5%, respectively, as traders have begun to turn to these established anonymous assets.

“With tightening global regulations and growing debate over digital surveillance, privacy has returned to the forefront,” Thakral added. “Despite its age, Zcash offers a clear and concise privacy narrative, and with the halving approaching, traders have found an accessible and liquid way to capitalize on this theme.”

Sustainability of the rise is in doubt: speculation dominates, fundamentals await verification

However, Thakral also warned that this surge was driven more by speculation than fundamental growth, with the core reason being the limited growth in the number of shielded transactions in Zcash.

He said that the subsequent trend of Zcash depends on two key factors: one is the reaction of miners and investors after the halving; the other is whether the privacy narrative can break through pure speculation, achieve real user growth, and avoid a reversal of selling when all the good news is exhausted.