Key Takeaways
Will Zcash print a new ATH?
It may be possible under positive market conditions amid aggressive spot and Futures market demand.
Do fundamentals support the likely uptrend?
Zcash has seen strong traction, thanks to the privacy narrative.
Zcash [ZEC] has remained resilient, despite last Friday’s market crash. In fact, it climbed higher to $298 over the weekend. Overall, the privacy coin has rallied by over 500% since September, jumping from $40 to nearly $300. This, before its latest bout of corrections.
Serial tech investor Naval Ravikant’s support triggered the first leg of the rally. Still, the coin is enjoying massive eyeballs. And, recent pullbacks have attracted significant bids.
Now, developers are doubling down on Zcash. For instance – Mert Mumtaz, founder of Solana [SOL]-based Helius, a blockchain development firm, has said that he would organize a hackathon to help build the Zcash platform for more privacy apps and tech.
Source: X
Interestingly, some Bitcoin OGs are also comfortable including ZEC in their portfolio, further reinforcing that the privacy narrative is still on.
Zcash traction spikes
For perspective, Zcash has an option for users to keep their blockchain transaction details private (shielded). This, unlike the Bitcoin network, which has data available for everyone.
According to Josh Swihart, one of Zcash’s creators, the network hit a record for shielded ZEC supply in 2025. In fact, about 27% of the overall ZEC supply, slightly over 4 million ZEC, has been shielded so far.
Source: CoinMetrics
Swapping volumes across on-chain venues have also increased, according to Swihart. This is more evidence of the growing spot market demand for “encrypted BTC.”
On the Futures market, a similar appetite seemed to be evident. The altcoin’s Open Interest (OI) hit a new all-time high (ATH) of $360M on Sunday. Although it eased slightly at press time, this may be indicative of high speculative interest that could fuel it higher.
Warning signs – What’s next for ZEC’s price?
Worth noting, however, that at press time, ZEC was down 16% from its recent high of $298. And about 50% from all-time highs of $372 hit in 2021.
In fact, there have been “too many retail” after ZEC crossed above $200 – A sign that a pullback or a local top could be feasible based on past trends.
Source: CryptoQuant
If the OBV (On Balance Volume) support above 6 million is withheld, it would reinforce the recovery odds.
In such a scenario, staying above $253 would likely see ZEC moon to $300 or a new ATH of $377.
Source: ZEC/USDT, TradingView
On the contrary, a breach below the OBV support could drag ZEC to $212 or $176.
Overall, the spot and derivatives demand suggested that the altcoin could recover under better market sentiment. This would make any dip below $250 a great buying opportunity.
