Key Highlights
- Zcash (ZEC) surges past $700, showing strong investor interest as privacy coins gain traction amid regulatory scrutiny and institutional demand.
- ZEC dominates the privacy sector, outperforming rivals like TORN, while major investors like Arthur Hayes see it as a top altcoin holding.
- Though far from overtaking Solana or Ethereum, Zcash’s growth and rising adoption highlight its long-term potential in crypto markets.
Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) is getting attention as its trading activity spikes. On November 17, the coin jumped above $700 after dropping to $598 earlier in the week. It now ranks third among the top altcoins by trading volume, with $4.38 billion, just behind Ethereum, which has $35.48 billion and Solana at $5.29 billion, showing growing interest from investors.
As of writing, ZEC was trading at $692.37, down 2% in the past 24 hours but up 217% in the past month, according to CoinMarketCap. Its market value sits at $11.3 billion, putting it back into the top 20 cryptocurrencies—a spot it reclaimed just last Friday.
The recent surge comes as more people look for privacy-focused coins, driven by tighter regulations and growing attention from institutional investors. Zcash’s price rise highlights both strong market activity and underlying demand.
Analyst Eric Van Tassel explained that such moves are sustainable given the long-term consolidation. “Since it broke out of the wedge pattern at around $62, in three days it moved up 143%. In the next 36 days, up to the current high price, it rose 555%. Zcash has had six pullbacks ranging between 20% and 43% during that 36-day period.” He emphasized.
Zcash’s dominance in the altcoin market
Zcash has consistently stayed ahead in the privacy coin sector, while other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies lag behind. According to Delphi Digital, ZEC has captured almost all of the gains in this niche. For example, TORN reached a new total value locked (TVL) of $1.23 billion, but Zcash’s price growth far outpaced it.
BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes also shared his bullish view, revealing that ZEC is the second-largest liquid asset in his portfolio after Bitcoin. He views Zcash as a stronger asset than XRP, and given its increasing popularity it might even surpass XRP’s market value in the future.
The network’s privacy features are earning growing trust. Zcash’s shielded supply uses zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to hide who is sending and receiving funds, as well as the transaction amount.
As a result, more people are using these private transactions, showing confidence in Zcash’s technology and network. In addition, new wallet integrations and the increasing focus on financial privacy are helping drive even more interest in ZEC.
Hypothetical scenarios: Could ZEC top Solana or Ethereum?
While impressive, Zcash’s recent gains are still a long way from positioning the cryptocurrency ahead of top altcoins. ZEC would have to reach nearly $8,000 in price to overtake Solana, a price increase of more than 11 times the present value, giving it a market capitalization of approximately $130 billion.
Flipping Ethereum is even more ambitious: ZEC would need to be worth approximately $23,400, which is more than 33 times today’s price, to reach Ethereum’s $385 billion market capitalization. Thus, while such scenarios are mathematically possible, they require massive new investment and mainstream adoption under the privacy coin narrative.
Also Read: Arthur Hayes Dumps $5M in Crypto as Markets Hit 6-Month Lows
