Zcash has overtaken Monero to become the leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The value of ZEC has exceeded $6.2 billion, while Monero (XMR) currently stands at around $5.9 billion.
Impressive Growth of Zcash
Just in September, Zcash’s market capitalization was about $800 million, but the coin has shown extraordinary growth since then.
Over the past 24 hours, its price increased by 7%, by 49% over the past week, and by more than 91% over the month.
At the time of writing, ZEC is trading at around $387, reaching its highest level since 2018.
By comparison, Monero’s performance has been more modest: the XMR price dropped 2.3% in the last 24 hours but gained 8.8% over the past 30 days. Its current price stands at $323.
Key Growth Drivers
Analysts attribute Zcash’s rally to several important factors:
- Launch of Grayscale’s Zcash Trust, which spurred institutional demand.
- Regulatory pressure on privacy transactions, increasing interest in anonymous solutions.
- Recognition of the project’s technical maturity. According to former Near Protocol product manager Matt Henderson, this factor helped strengthen investor confidence in Zcash.
Some Bitcoin maximalists even describe Zcash as an “improved version of Bitcoin,” claiming the project is finally ready for mass adoption.
“Initially, Zcash introduced cutting-edge privacy technology, but it wasn’t optimized for mobile use. That changed with the arrival of Zashi and Edge wallets, which now allow private transactions directly from smartphones,” — users noted.
Another reason for the surge is increased liquidity. The volume of shielded transactions recently reached a record 4.9 million ZEC, while Helius Kab CEO Mert Mumtaz called the movement “one of the craziest in crypto history.”
Zcash has also gained support from several prominent figures in the crypto industry, further boosting confidence in the project.
Forecasts and Future Outlook
Mert Mumtaz believes Zcash could soon surpass XRP by market cap.
Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes predicts that ZEC could reach $400 in the short term and as high as $10,000 in the long term.
Researcher Cal argues that Zcash’s continued growth depends on Bitcoin’s trajectory. If BTC resumes its uptrend, ZEC could climb to $1,000 by the end of Q4.
Some traders even compare buying ZEC at $380 today to buying Bitcoin at the same price in its early days.
“Every Bitcoin holder will look like a genius by 2030 if they invest at least 1% of their portfolio in ZEC today,” — crypto enthusiasts say.
A More Cautious View
Not everyone shares the bullish sentiment. CryptoQuant analyst Burak Keshmechi warns that the current rally may be short-lived.
Experts emphasize that in the highly volatile privacy coin market, sharp surges can be followed by equally steep corrections.
