Zcash hits highest price since 2016 as market cap tops $20B

Zcash (ZEC) climbed to its highest price since 2016, extending a rally that has pushed the privacy-focused cryptocurrency’s market capitalization above $20 billion.

ZEC reached $1,249.28 before retreating to about $1,195 on Monday, according to CoinGecko data. The token gained about 45% over the past week and 138% over 30 days.

The rally leaves Zcash below its launch-era record. CoinGecko lists an all-time high of $3,191.93 on Oct. 28, 2016, when only a small supply of tokens was available.

Zcash allows users to choose between public and “shielded” transactions. The latter uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify payments without revealing the sender, recipient or transaction amount.

“For users that prioritize privacy, this could become a ‘must have’ feature,” Grayscale’s head of research, Zach Pandl, said in an Aug. 31 analysis.

Pandl said that AI could increase demand for financial privacy by making it easier to link public blockchain transactions to users’ identities.

Zcash has been on a tear since Grayscale converted its existing Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund. The product, trading under the ticker ZCSH, began trading on NYSE ARCA on Aug. 25, giving investors exposure to ZEC through brokerage accounts.

The ETF closed Friday at $83.77 a share, with $463.2 million in assets under management, according to the fund’s website. US markets are closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.