• Zcash rallies 45% to $388, reaching an eight-year high and outperforming the broader crypto market.
• ZEC’s market cap hits $6.2B, surpassing Monero to become the leading privacy-focused cryptocurrency.
• Arthur Hayes’ $10K price forecast sparks renewed investor confidence and strong buying momentum.

Zcash (ZEC) defied the crypto market’s selloff this week with a sharp 45% rally. The token touched an eight-year high of $388 on Friday, as per CoinMarketCap. For its part, its market capitalization rose to $6.2 billion, putting it in the lead of Monero over being the most valuable cryptocurrency of privacy. The rally came after BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes predicted the target to be $10,000.

The broader crypto market has suffered with the failure of the U.S.-China tariff deal. Bitcoin and Ethereum remained flat, and a number of altcoins fell. Zcash, on the other hand, made a strong gain throughout the week. The move is indicative of the growing interest of investors in privacy certificates, as uncertainty in the broader markets remains high.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Zcash’s Privacy Innovation and Arthur Hayes’ Bullish Catalyst

Zcash technology provides it with a determining advantage. It uses zk-SNARKs, or zero-knowledge proofs, to be able to carry out transactions without revealing addresses or amounts of each wallet.

Users have the option to secure their transactions, which offers a level of privacy that is unheard of with Bitcoin or most altcoins. Similarly, this characteristic has attracted the interest of traders looking for anonymity in light of the tightening of regulations worldwide.

Also Read: Ethereum Ecosystem TVL Surges 16x Since 2020, Anchoring ETH Valuation

ZEC gained momentum after a bullish prediction from Arthur Hayes. Just hours after his post on X, the token climbed from $272 to $355. The euphoria continued through the next few days with more and more traders getting into the market. Hayes’ reputation as an experienced analyst heightened the impact of the callout, further fueling the belief that Zcash had the potential to grow further.

Investor Behavior Shifts as Zcash Rally Faces Profit-Taking

Despite the surge, the on-chain data shows some caution. According to Nansen, the large holders sold approximately $702,000 worth of ZEC this week. However, the number of holders of the tokens increased by 69.18% to almost 2,042 over the last week. This trend indicates that retail investors are stacking up while whales are Taking Profits.

Source: Nansen

Analyst Simon Dedic from Moonrock Capital praised the Zcash rise as extraordinary. He observed that ZEC increased 10x over the past two months, completely against the market trend. Dedic added there are not too many multibillion-dollar asset growths, underscoring the good demand for privacy-based cryptocurrencies.

“I want to emphasize that this isn’t some shitcoin, it’s a multibillion-dollar asset. That makes this kind of performance even more remarkable,” He added in a post on X on Friday.

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