Zcash News Today: Zcash's Surge Fueled by Privacy: Lasting Growth or Just Hype?

Since October 2025, Zcash (ZEC) has skyrocketed by over 790%, outperforming every major cryptocurrency in the top 10 and climbing to a seven-year peak of $627 at the time of writing, according to a

. Despite this meteoric rise, the dramatic uptrend has raised alarms about a possible steep decline, with experts debating if the privacy coin’s comeback is driven by genuine demand or speculative mania. The recent sharp drop from $627 to $488 has only increased scrutiny of Zcash’s underlying fundamentals and market behavior, as highlighted by .

The

rally has been propelled by several factors, such as rising interest in financial privacy and notable moves by institutions. Jake Kennis, an analyst at Nansen, pointed out that Zcash’s tokenomics, similar to Bitcoin, and its zk-SNARK-based privacy make it an “encrypted ,” attracting users who value anonymity, as reported by Yahoo Finance. Additionally, Ripple’s $500 million capital raise at a $40 billion valuation in November 2025 has indirectly supported , since institutional endorsement often leads to wider altcoin adoption, according to a .

Nonetheless, doubts remain. Data from Polymarket prediction markets show the probability of ZEC reaching $1,000 by December 2025 has dropped from 50% to 37%, reflecting declining faith in the coin’s staying power, per Yahoo Finance. Traders have also highlighted the dangers of Zcash’s rapid price surge, with $65 million in ZEC futures recently liquidated as bearish bets increased, according to CoinDesk. The derivatives market is still heavily skewed toward short positions, and technical signals indicate that volatility may continue.

On-chain data for Zcash presents a mixed picture. Its spot-to-futures ratio—$801 million in spot trades over 24 hours compared to $4.5 billion in futures—suggests real demand, while the recent move above $500 represents a full recovery of the local highs from 2021, as noted by CoinDesk. Project Tachyon, spearheaded by Zcash developer Sean Bowe, seeks to boost the network’s capacity to thousands of private transactions per second, which could strengthen its long-term value, according to CoinDesk. Still, some critics contend that much of the recent surge has been fueled by influencer promotion and speculative hype, raising concerns of a potential bubble, as mentioned in the Yahoo Finance article.

The market remains split. Optimists point to the increasing use of shielded addresses—now holding 20–25% of all circulating ZEC—and Zcash’s rise to the largest privacy-centric cryptocurrency by market cap, as reported by CoinDesk. Pessimists, on the other hand, caution about broader economic challenges and fragile sentiment, with the total crypto market cap lingering near $3.4 trillion amid a strong U.S. dollar and ongoing regulatory uncertainty, according to CoinDesk.

As November continues, the next few weeks are expected to reveal whether Zcash can hold onto its recent gains or will experience a significant pullback. The coin’s future performance will depend on its ability to balance its privacy appeal with growing institutional interest, while traders prepare for further swings in a deeply divided market.