Zcash Surges 33%, Triggers $51M in Short Liquidations

Zcash’s dramatic price surge on Friday saw the token climb from $536 to nearly $735 in a matter of hours, representing a 33% gain that placed it among the day’s top crypto performers. This rapid price action triggered significant market turbulence, with over $51 million in short positions being liquidated as traders who had bet against Zcash were forced to cover their positions. According to data from CoinGlass, Zcash-related positions ranked as the third-most liquidated in the entire cryptocurrency market on Friday, trailing only Bitcoin and Ethereum in liquidation volume.

The broader liquidation picture reveals even more substantial market impact, with total Zcash positions liquidated—including both long and short positions—reaching $59 million. This compares to $150 million in liquidations for Bitcoin and $146 million for Ethereum during the same period. The token’s price has since settled to $666, still maintaining a 25% gain over the past day and demonstrating sustained investor interest despite the initial volatility.

Until recently, Zcash remained a relatively obscure cryptocurrency, hovering around $40 for over three years before beginning its remarkable ascent in early October. The token’s transformation has been nothing short of spectacular, with its price ballooning by a factor of 10 in just five weeks. Friday’s peak of nearly $735 marked the highest price registered for Zcash since January 2018, according to data from CoinGecko, signaling a dramatic return to relevance for the privacy-focused asset.

Despite this impressive rally, Zcash remains 79% below its all-time high of $3,191 set back in 2016, suggesting there may still be significant upside potential according to some market observers. The token’s current market capitalization stands at approximately $11 billion, cementing its position as the largest privacy-focused cryptocurrency by market value. This valuation reflects growing institutional and retail interest in privacy-preserving digital assets amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of traditional cryptocurrency transactions.

Analysts point to growing anxieties about Bitcoin’s privacy and decentralization as a primary driver behind Zcash’s recent surge. As Bitcoin experiences unprecedented corporate and political embrace, concerns have mounted about the world’s top cryptocurrency becoming increasingly centralized and subject to corporate influence. Zcash, created in 2016 via a fork of Bitcoin’s codebase, offers a compelling alternative with its system of zero-knowledge proofs that enable truly anonymous transactions.

The timing of Friday’s surge appears closely linked to developments in the United States legal system. On Thursday, Keonne Rodriguez, a developer of the privacy-focused Bitcoin app Samourai Wallet, received a five-year federal prison sentence—the maximum possible—after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitter. The sentence, requested by President Trump’s Department of Justice, has been widely criticized by crypto and privacy advocates who see it as contradictory to the department’s stated commitment to protecting crypto developer rights.

This legal development has amplified concerns about the future of privacy in cryptocurrency transactions, potentially driving investors toward established privacy coins like Zcash. The case highlights the growing tension between regulatory enforcement and technological innovation in the crypto space, with privacy-focused projects facing increased scrutiny even as demand for financial privacy grows among users.