Zcash Surges Over 200% in a Month Amid ETF Launch and Upgrades

Zcash (ZEC) price has skyrocketed over 200% in the last month. Analysts suggest further gains are possible due to supply-demand shifts from recent ETF listings and anticipation around the next upgrade.

CoinMarketCap data shows ZEC rose nearly 11% on the day, briefly surpassing $1,500. The coin has surged approximately 200% over the past month and is up over 2870% compared to a year ago.

ZEC's rise gained momentum last month after asset manager Grayscale listed its ZEC spot ETF 'ZCSH' on NYSE Arca at the end of June. ZCSH has recorded three consecutive weeks of weekly net inflows since listing, with assets under management reaching approximately $890 million as of today.

Market observers note that the ZEC ETF significantly expanded investment accessibility. Investors can now access ZEC without using cryptocurrency exchanges through traditional brokerage accounts and have secured institutional entry points. The symbolic significance of privacy coins being integrated into regulated financial products is also noted.

Mat Huang, co-founder of a prominent crypto investment firm, amplified the rally by stating on X that 'Zcash is a privacy asset complementing Bitcoin (BTC)' and that his firm has invested in ZEC. Following his comments, ZEC rose over 20% within one day.

The Ironwood upgrade implemented on the mainnet in late July has also been credited with strengthening ZEC's fundamentals. The upgrade improved privacy features and transaction structure, resolving security concerns raised earlier this year regarding a vulnerability in the Orchard pool.

Market anticipation is building around the upcoming NU7 network upgrade. The ZEC ecosystem recently passed a vote to reduce block generation time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, with 99% approval, while maintaining Bitcoin (BTC)-style halving schedules. Development teams plan to test the upgrade on the testnet next month and deploy it on mainnet as early as November.

Industry observers suggest ZEC may follow a similar trajectory to Bitcoin's 2017 surge, with analyst Ansem noting that 'Zcash could show a rise comparable to Bitcoin's cycle in 2017,' when Bitcoin rose from around $1,000 to nearly $13,000.

Grayscale Research Chief Zach Pandl also highlighted growing demand for ZEC as AI technology expands. He stated that 'as AI becomes more powerful, interest in privacy will grow' and that 'Zcash provides a way for investors to express their views on personal and financial privacy through investment.' He added that ZEC is not directly competing with Bitcoin but remains an underutilized and unexplored area.

It's worth noting that domestic exchanges cannot list ZEC. Privacy coins like ZEC have been restricted in South Korea since 2021 due to anti-money laundering (AML) concerns, leading local exchanges to delist privacy coins including Monero (XMR) shortly after.