Zcash has seen a strong rally recently, drawing significant global interest as the need for on-chain privacy grows.
ZEC Surpasses XMR and SHIB in Market Cap
Zcash’s remarkable rise over the past three months has changed its market standing dramatically.
Back in early September, this privacy coin was largely overlooked, trading around $33—over 99% down from its peak of $5,941.80 reached in 2026, as reported by CoinMarketCap.
By mid-September, ZEC had jumped to $50, a sign that interest was starting to build, especially as on-chain activity in shielded transactions—Zcash’s key privacy feature—picked up.
Things really took off after investor Naval Ravikant made comments on October 1st, referring to Zcash as “insurance against Bitcoin.” Following this, Bitcoin itself surged over 60% that day and has maintained an upward trend since.
In October alone, the ZEC/USD pair skyrocketed 684%, and it added another 10% recently, reaching an eight-year high of $445 on November 1st.
The highlight of this surge came when ZEC’s market cap surpassed both Monero (XMR) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), establishing its lead in the privacy coin sector.
With a market cap of $6.96 billion—up from just $800 million in August—Zcash overtook XMR’s $6.1 billion and SHIB’s $5.67 billion, moving from 84th to 21st on CoinMarketCap rankings.
This rally has rekindled investor interest in other privacy-oriented coins, such as DASH and Verdex (BDX), which have risen 250% and 38%, respectively, during the same timeframe.
Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Zcash and Monero conceal sender, receiver, and transaction details, providing a level of anonymity that Bitcoin (BTC) lacks. While Bitcoin transactions can be tracked, privacy tokens actively mask wallet addresses and transaction histories.
What’s Fueling the Zcash Rally?
The upward trend in Zcash can be linked to a mix of technology enhancements, institutional backing, and an overall increase in demand for privacy. The Zashi CrossPay update earlier this month enabled smooth cross-chain transfers with Solana and Ethereum, leading to a sevenfold increase in shielded transactions and locking up 30% of its supply in a privacy pool. This effectively addressed liquidity issues and permitted decentralized finance experiments through untraceable swaps via NEAR intents.
Institutional support has surged too, with Grayscale’s Zcash Trust assets under management increasing by 228% in October, bringing it to $137 million.
There are also rumors about a spot ZEC ETF, which might position Zcash as a compliant option with CBDC oversight and EU AMLR regulations.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, described ZEC as a “quasi-quantum-ready” competitor to Bitcoin, and this prominent endorsement has further strengthened ZEC’s bullish narrative, pushing the price up by 30% in a single day. Naval Ravikant again referred to this asset as “insurance against Bitcoin.”
Global trends, including heightened scrutiny of data (due to the GENIUS Act and market volatility), have pushed the privacy coin total cap to around $22 billion. Zcash’s transparent options have outperformed Monero’s rigidity, avoiding potential delistings. The Electric Coin Company’s roadmap for Q4 (detailing Zebra nodes, Zcash Shielded Assets, and a pending shift to PoS) along with an upcoming halving (reducing rewards by 50%) has added momentum as supply decreases.
How High Can ZEC Go?
As November begins, Zcash finds itself at a crucial decision point. While technical experts are generally optimistic about further gains, there are warnings about potential overextensions.
ZEC is currently priced at $385, having maintained an upward trajectory since hitting $115 in October, with a V-shaped recovery indicating a break from an eight-year downtrend at $350. Analysts are eyeing a bullish target within the ascending channel, aiming for an upper limit around $565.
Additionally, all major moving averages are below the current price, signaling a reliable bullish indicator supported by robust volume.
The Fibonacci extension based on the 2020-2021 cycle suggests that the next peak could reach $940 if resistance at $415 holds, indicating about a 43% upside from current numbers.
However, there are signals of an oversold RSI on multiple timeframes, and bearish divergence on the daily chart hints at a slowdown in upward momentum, possibly foreshadowing a short-term correction.
Despite this, analysts remain positive about ZEC’s growth potential. Maat Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of Helius, has even set a price target of $1,000 for Zcash.
Recently, Arthur Hayes’ $10,000 price prediction contributed to a 30% uptick in ZEC’s price.
