Zcash (ZEC) reached $1,249.28 on Monday, its highest price since October 2016, before easing to around $1,195. The rally has lifted the privacy‑focused cryptocurrency’s market value past the $20 billion mark.
Over the last seven days ZEC gained roughly 45%, and it is up about 138% over the past 30 days. The all‑time high remains $3,191.93, recorded on Oct. 28, 2016, when token supply was limited.
Zcash offers users a choice between transparent transactions and “shielded” payments that employ zero‑knowledge proofs to conceal sender, recipient and amount. Grayscale’s head of research, Zach Pandl, noted that privacy could become a “must‑have” feature for users, especially as artificial‑intelligence tools make it easier to link public blockchain activity to real‑world identities.
The price surge follows Grayscale’s conversion of its Zcash Trust into an exchange‑traded fund, which began trading on NYSE ARCA under the ticker ZCSH on Aug. 25. The ETF closed its first full trading day at $83.77 per share and reported $463.2 million in assets under management.
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday, limiting immediate trading activity. The move underscores growing investor interest in privacy‑oriented digital assets amid broader discussions about financial confidentiality.
CoinGecko data were used for price and market‑cap figures.
