Zcash Surges Above $700 Amid Growing Investor Interest
Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) has seen a sharp rise in trading activity. On November 17, its price climbed above $700, after dropping to $598 earlier that week. ZEC now ranks third in altcoin trading volume with $4.38 billion, trailing only Ethereum ($35.48 billion) and Solana ($5.29 billion).
As of writing, ZEC trades at $692.37, down 2% in 24 hours but up 217% over the past month, according to CoinMarketCap. Its market capitalization is $11.3 billion, placing it back in the top 20 cryptocurrencies since last Friday.
The surge is driven by increased demand for privacy coins amid tighter regulations and growing institutional interest. Analyst Eric Van Tassel noted Zcash’s strong performance and price consolidation, highlighting multiple pullbacks between 20% and 43% during recent rapid gains.
Zcash Leads Privacy Coin Sector
Zcash holds a dominant position among privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Delphi Digital reported that ZEC has captured nearly all gains in this sector. While competitors like TORN reached a total value locked (TVL) of $1.23 billion, Zcash’s price growth exceeded theirs significantly.
Arthur Hayes, BitMEX co-founder, revealed ZEC as the second-largest liquid asset in his portfolio after Bitcoin. He considers Zcash stronger than XRP and believes ZEC could surpass XRP’s market value in the future.
Zcash’s privacy features use zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) to conceal sender, receiver, and transaction amounts. This technology has increased user trust and adoption. New wallet integrations and a growing focus on financial privacy are further boosting interest in ZEC.
Zcash’s Growth Versus Top Altcoins
Despite recent gains, Zcash remains far from overtaking Solana or Ethereum. ZEC would need to reach nearly $8,000 to surpass Solana’s market cap of about $130 billion. That requires more than an 11-fold price increase from current levels.
To overtake Ethereum’s $385 billion market cap, ZEC must rise above $23,400, more than 33 times today’s price. Such a rise would need significant new investment and broader adoption under the privacy coin narrative.
