ZEC Hits $1,249.28, Highest Since 2016, Market Cap Surpasses $20B

TL;DR

ZEC reached a high of $1,249.28, its highest level since 2016, with a market capitalization exceeding $20 billion.
The token has gained 37% over the past week and 138% over 30 days, driven by the conversion of the Grayscale Zcash Trust into an ETF.
The Grayscale ETF, which has traded under the ticker ZCSH on NYSE ARCA since August 25, reports $463.2 million in assets under management.

Zcashrecorded its highest price since its launch year. ZEChit an intraday high of $1,249.28 before stabilizing around $1,195, according to data from CoinGecko.

Currently, CoinMarketCap places it at $1,150, with a drop of nearly 2% over the past 24 hours, though with a weekly gain of 37% and a trading volume that exceeded $1.6 billion. The cryptocurrency’s market capitalization crossed the $20 billion threshold and, while it has since pulled back slightly, it consolidated one of the strongest rallies in the market in recent months.

The catalyst for its surge was the conversion of the Grayscale Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund. The product, which began trading on August 25 under the ticker ZCSH on NYSE ARCA, allows investorsto access ZEC through conventional brokerage accounts. At Friday’s close, the ETF was trading at $83.77 per share and managed assets of $463.2 million, according to the fund’s official website.

ZEC: Privacy as an Investment Case

Zcash offers its users the ability to choose between public or “shielded” transactions, the latter based on zero-knowledge proofs that verify payments without revealing the sender, the recipient, or the amount involved. This technical feature is gaining traction as an investment argument, given a context in which artificial intelligence makes it easier to link public transactions to real identities.

Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, noted in an analysis published on August 31 that for users who prioritize privacy, this functionality could become something indispensable. ZEC’s all-time high remains $3,191.93, recorded on October 28, 2016, when the circulating supply was still very limited.