Zcash rose more than 17% to nearly $1,358 during Asian morning hours Thursday, outpacing every other major cryptocurrency, according to CoinDesk data.
Solana and Hyperliquid each gained about 3%, while BNB, Dogecoin and Ether climbed roughly 2%. Bitcoin edged up 1% to just above $76,400, XRP posted a similar gain, and Tron was flat.
Some 86,816 traders were liquidated over a 24-hour period for a combined $345 million, per CoinGlass data. Shorts accounted for $208 million of the total versus $137 million in longs, meaning the majority of losses fell on traders who had bet on declining prices. Ether led all assets at nearly $89 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin at $85 million and Zcash at $56 million. The single largest position closed was an $18 million Bitcoin order on Hyperliquid.
Zcash generated $56 million in liquidations against a market capitalization of $23 billion, suggesting leverage built up rapidly alongside the price run. Market observers noted that monitoring whether leveraged positions rebuild through Thursday could be decisive for the continuation of the move.
The broader market showed limited reaction to the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday to raise its target interest-rate range by a quarter point to 375–400 basis points, its first hike of the current cycle. Markets had priced in roughly a 69% probability of the increase before the announcement. Bitcoin barely moved on the decision.
Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in an email that Bitcoin had already "overreacted negatively" to the failure of the CLARITY Act in the Senate earlier in the week, leaving it less exposed to a stronger dollar heading into the rate decision.
