Zcash (ZEC), the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, dropped about 13% over 24 hours on Thursday, October 15, 2026, extending a volatile October that has erased a large share of its September gains. The decline came as leveraged traders betting on higher prices were forced out of their positions and broader crypto markets sold off following hotter-than-expected US inflation data.
Zcash Price Today: ZEC Trades Near $1,087
ZEC traded at $1,087.36 as of 06:30 UTC on October 15, down 13.0% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The token moved between a 24-hour high of $1,263.87 and a low of $1,079.98, meaning it was trading just above the bottom of its daily range at the time of writing.
The drop cut ZEC’s market capitalization to $18.47 billion, keeping it 10th among cryptocurrencies by market value. Trading volume over the same period stood at $1.154 billion. Zcash also underperformed the market leader, falling 10.2% against Bitcoin (BTC) to 0.01345 BTC, which indicates selling pressure specific to ZEC on top of the wider market decline.
ZEC now sits about 24% below its September 30 close of $1,438.16, and well below the levels above $1,500 that The Crypto Times reported on September 18.
$20.09 Million in ZEC Liquidations, Mostly Longs
Derivatives positioning amplified the move. A liquidation occurs when an exchange forcibly closes a leveraged trade because the trader’s collateral can no longer cover losses. A long position is a bet that the price will rise.
Data from CoinGlass showed $20.09 million in ZEC liquidations over 24 hours. Long positions accounted for $17.83 million, or 88.7% of the total, while short positions, which profit from falling prices, made up $2.26 million, or 11.3%.
That imbalance shows traders were positioned for further upside after ZEC’s two-day recovery earlier this week. As the price fell, forced selling from closed long positions added to downward pressure. ZEC perpetual futures open interest, the total value of outstanding derivative contracts that have no expiry date, stood at $3.586 billion on CoinGecko, meaning heavy leverage remains in the market even after Thursday’s flush.
ZEC was not alone. CoinGlass recorded roughly $972 million in liquidations across the crypto market over the same 24-hour window, led by Ether (ETH) at about $292.79 million and Bitcoin at about $202.95 million.
US CPI Data Triggered the Steepest Leg of the Decline
The main macro trigger was the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday, October 14, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (12:30 UTC). CPI measures the change in prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services.
The BLS report showed headline inflation rising to 3.7% year over year in September from 3.4% in August, above the 3.6% economists had expected. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose to 2.6% from 2.4%.
CoinGecko’s 24-hour chart shows ZEC holding above $1,240 for most of Wednesday before its steepest drop began around the time of the release. The token then lost further ground during early Asian trading hours on Thursday. The Crypto Times’ live coverage of the CPI release tracked a parallel decline in Bitcoin and Ether.
Hotter inflation matters for crypto because it reduces the likelihood of looser monetary policy. Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi told CNBC that the report strengthens the case for the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates. Markets now turn to the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) October 27 to 28 meeting, where the Fed will set its next policy decision.
Grayscale Zcash ETF Outflows Remove a Source of Demand
Fund flows have added to the pressure. The Zcash ETF (ZCSH), built by Grayscale, began trading on NYSE Arca on August 25, 2026, as the first US spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding ZEC directly. Its launch helped fuel the late-summer rally, as The Crypto Times reported at the time.
That flow has since reversed. According to SoSoValue data, ZCSH recorded net outflows of $5.19 million on October 13, its second straight day of redemptions, after $30.72 million left the fund the previous week and $93.56 million the week before. Cumulative net inflows since launch have fallen to $175 million, with total net assets of about $677 million. Outflows mean the fund is redeeming shares rather than adding ZEC, which removes a steady buyer from the spot market.
Thursday’s decline also mirrors the 13% slide The Crypto Times covered on October 9, when falling open interest and ETF outflows likewise pressured the token. A further 7% drop on October 13 briefly sent ZEC near $1,124 before Wednesday’s rebound.
Arkham Data Keeps Zcash’s Privacy Debate in Focus
Alongside price action, Zcash continues to face scrutiny over how private its network is in practice. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence states in a research guide that it has labeled more than half of all Zcash activity, attributing about $420 billion in volume to known individuals and institutions. Arkham first announced its Zcash coverage in December 2025.
Zcash supports two address types. Transparent addresses work like Bitcoin addresses, with sender, receiver and amount publicly visible. Shielded addresses use zero-knowledge proofs, a cryptographic method that validates a transaction without revealing its details. Arkham says most of its labeling is possible because exchanges and custodians typically use transparent addresses. The firm acknowledges that fully shielded transfers cannot be tracked, though entry and exit points to the shielded pool are often visible.
One wallet in Arkham’s dataset belongs to the U.S. Government and holds ZEC seized from Alexandre Cazes, founder of the darknet marketplace AlphaBay, which the Department of Justice shut down in July 2017. Arkham says the holding was worth $737,000 at the time of seizure.
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox has previously disputed characterizations of Arkham’s work, saying the firm tracks wallets that opted into transparency rather than shielded funds. Arkham’s labeling data is not a cause of Thursday’s decline but remains part of the wider debate around privacy coins as institutional exposure grows.
What to Watch Next for ZEC
ZEC now trades just above its 24-hour low of $1,079.98. Traders will watch whether the $1,080 area holds as support, whether ZCSH flows turn positive, and how leverage rebuilds given open interest above $3.5 billion. On the network side, attention is also turning to the planned NU7 upgrade, which went live on testnet earlier this month.
With ZEC’s circulating supply at 16.987 million against a fixed 21 million cap, the token’s near-term direction is likely to depend on macro data, ETF flows, and derivatives positioning rather than any change to its supply schedule.
Also Read: Ethereum Price Drops 6.2% as ETH Long Liquidations Hit $265M After Hot US CPI
