Introduction
The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) has surged nearly 9% in the past 24 hours, reaching $381, as cautious optimism returns to its market. This rally unfolds against a backdrop of significant internal disruption at its founding organization, the Electric Coin Company, and follows the closure of a key regulatory investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Key Points
- The SEC ended its investigation into the Zcash Foundation without enforcement, removing a key regulatory uncertainty.
- Mass leadership departures at the Electric Coin Company have sparked new offshoot projects, including CashZ led by ex-CEO Josh Swihart.
- The broader privacy coin sector rose 8.8% in 24 hours, with Verge, DASH, and Monero all posting gains alongside Zcash.
A Surge in Price and Shifting Sentiment
According to data from CoinGecko, Zcash is up 8.7% over the past day, trading at $381. This price action coincides with a notable thaw in trader sentiment on the prediction market Myriad. After flipping bearish at the start of last week, the mood is now more optimistic, with 40% of users on the platform—owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan—anticipating a pump to $550 before a drop to $250. This represents an 8% increase in bullish probability since Monday’s low.
Despite this recent resurgence, the broader picture for Zcash remains challenging. The coin is still down over 26% month-on-month, highlighting the severity of its recent sell-off. The current gains, therefore, represent a tentative recovery within a larger corrective period, with traders carefully weighing positive developments against underlying structural concerns.
Internal Turmoil and Offshoot Projects
The recent price volatility occurs alongside profound internal strife at the Electric Coin Company (ECC), the entity that launched Zcash. On January 8, the company announced a mass exodus of its leadership team. Reports suggest the departures stemmed from a disagreement between upper management and the board over a potential strategic shift to a for-profit model.
This management disruption has already catalyzed the emergence of new, Zcash-adjacent ventures. Former ECC CEO Josh Swihart is now leading a new project called CashZ, which plans to launch a crypto wallet centered on privacy coins. In a separate development, another Zcash-focused developer has secured investment from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. These moves indicate that while the original organization is in flux, developer interest and capital are continuing to flow into the Zcash ecosystem.
Regulatory Relief and Sector-Wide Momentum
Amid the internal chaos, Zcash received a significant positive development on the regulatory front. On January 15, the Zcash Foundation confirmed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had ended its investigation into the organization without recommending any enforcement action. The non-profit foundation had been aware of the probe since August 2023, during the tenure of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. The closure of this investigation removes a longstanding regulatory overhang that had likely weighed on investor sentiment.
Zcash’s gains are also part of a broader rally across the privacy coin sector. Data from CoinGecko shows the sector as a whole is up 8.8% over the past 24 hours. Other major privacy tokens like Verge (XVG), DASH, and Monero (XMR) have posted gains of 6.6%, 5.8%, and 3.6%, respectively, over the same period. This suggests that Zcash’s movement is being influenced by both its unique company-specific news and wider positive momentum for privacy-focused digital assets.
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