Zcash Price Up Today as Privacy Narrative Returns

• Zcash (ZEC) price up today after breaking long-term resistance, fueled by short squeeze and privacy-coin momentum.
• Whale endorsements and renewed focus on privacy in crypto lift ZEC volume above $750 million.
• ZEC’s breakout above multi-year trendlines and institutional interest mark a broader privacy resurgence.

After years of tight consolidation, Zcash (ZEC) has signaled a macro breakout. The mid-cap altcoin, valued near $2.82 billion FDV, has surged 245 percent in three weeks, its sharpest move since April 2022.

During the past 24 hours, ZEC price surged nearly 50% to reach a range high of about $184. According to market data from Binance-backed CoinMarketCap, ZEC’s 24-hour trading volume surged by over 46% to hover about $752 million at press time. Traders across Reddit and X frame it as the first real “privacy narrative resurgence” of this cycle.

Reasons Why Zcash (ZEC) Price is Up Today

Short Squeeze and Funding Shift

The rally began as a ZEC short squeeze. Roughly $3 million in positions were liquidated in 24 hours, $2.1 million of them short trades. During the past 24 hours, a total of $3 million was liquidated from ZEC’s leveraged market, with over $2.1 million involving short traders. 

CoinGlass data show ZEC’s funding rate turned positive after months negative, often the pivot from bearish to bullish sentiment. This shift signaled leverage flipping long as whales and algorithmic funds chased momentum. Across social platforms, traders describe it as the “first clean short flush of the privacy cycle.”

High-Profile Support Revives Privacy Trade

A second driver is endorsements from Naval Ravikant, Mert Mumtaz, and Jameson Lopp; voices with credibility in crypto circles.

“Bitcoin is insurance against fiat. ZCash is insurance against Bitcoin,” Naval recently noted.

Jameson Lopp, co-founder and chief security officer at Casa, has been supporting the Zcash network even before it launched its mainnet. According to Mert, ZEC is the tool for preserving privacy where Bitcoin failed. 

Related: Binance Drops Tags on ZEC & Others – Here’s Why

“The state started printing money so we bought BTC. The state then started surveilling money so we bought ZEC,” Mert noted. 

This public backing re-centers Zcash as a flagship for the privacy resurgence narrative, especially as Ethereum developers and the broader Web3 community re-examine the role of privacy post-Tornado Cash. According to Buterin, privacy is normal for humanity and governments should respect it as a basic need. 

ZEC Technical Breakout Confirms Trend Reversal

On the chart, ZEC broke a multi-year descending triangle, confirming a macro technical breakout. After failing to rally beyond its all-time high in 2021, the ZEC price has now built significant momentum to rally exponentially in the coming months.

In the weekly timeframe, ZEC’s bullish outlook has been confirmed by the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which surged above 80 for the first time in its history. Additionally, the MACD indicator confirmed bullish momentum after the MACD line and the Signal line rallied above the zero line amid growing bullish histograms.

Rising Leverage and Institutional Access

ZEC open interest has hit an all-time high of $237 million, up nearly 200% month-to-month, signaling renewed leverage and institutional participation. 

Open-interest volume and spot liquidity both surged, suggesting capital is rotating from large-cap majors into privacy coins like ZEC and Monero.

Meanwhile, the Grayscale Zcash Trust (ZCSH) grew to $69.5 million AUM, its largest since 2022, evidence that regulated channels are re-engaging with the asset class despite compliance friction. Across trading forums, investors describe this phase as ‘institutional rediscovery of the privacy trade.’

Related: EU’s Strict New Crypto Regulations: Privacy Coins, Anonymous Accounts Banned by 2027