How Did Zcash Defy The Crypto Market Crash To Hit An All-Time High?

Zcash (ZEC) has emerged as one of the few digital assets to rally amid one of the harshest liquidation waves in recent crypto history.

As nearly $20 billion in leveraged positions vanished following President Trump’s unexpected tariff announcement, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency surged to a four-year high.

Why is Zcash Price Rising?

Data from BeInCrypto showed ZEC price briefly touching $282.59 on October 11 before easing to about $257.96. Even after that pullback, the token posted a 15% daily gain—its strongest since late 2021, when it last traded near $295.

This continues an upward movement for a digital asset that has climbed over 100% this week and nearly 450% in the past month.

Zcash’s Price Performance in the Last 30 Days. Source: Zcash

Zcash’s rally has been aided by crypto traders’ rotation into privacy-centric projects following increased financial surveillance by global authorities.

Moreover, the token’s positive performance has been amplified by industry figures such as Barry Silbert, founder of Digital Currency Group. Notably, he has reshared multiple Zcash-related updates in recent days.

Outside of that, some community members have pointed out that Zcash remains undervalued relative to its fundamentals.

Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, argued that ZEC has operated as a proof-of-work, fully distributed network for nine years.

According to him, the project offers user sovereignty, advanced encryption, and Bitcoin-like tokenomics at a fraction of the market capitalization of peers such as Litecoin or Cardano.

Mumtaz also cited a “renaissance” of developer activity, with new contributors focusing on performance improvements and exchange integrations.

Considering this, he argued that the token “is the most obvious mispricing in crypto,” while adding that:

“The community using the power of crypto and public markets to breathe life back into the project,” Mumtaz said.

Launched in 2016, Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable private transactions without revealing the sender, receiver, or amount. These features are missing in top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

So, as governments worldwide increase financial surveillance, Zcash’s shielded-transaction model is regaining relevance among privacy-minded users.