Zcash Hits Eight-Year High as Futures Bets Nearly Double
Zcash (ZEC) briefly rose to $888, its highest level since 2018, then eased to about $843, up nearly 7% in 24 hours and about 48% since Aug. 20. The token is still far below its 2016 all-time high of $3,191.93, but it has surged more than 1,800% over the past year after falling to $16 two years ago. Derivatives activity has intensified: ZEC perpetual futures open interest nearly doubled to $1.8 billion, with $5.3 billion in daily volume and positive funding that shows strong demand for leveraged longs. Demand has been driven by renewed interest in privacy coins, Grayscale’s proposed Zcash Trust ETF conversion, and recent network developments. A June shielded-pool flaw triggered a major selloff, but an emergency patch and July’s Ironwood upgrade added safeguards. Cypherpunk Technologies also began mining Zcash and now holds roughly 323,394 ZEC.
