Key Takeaways:
- Zcash (ZEC) surged past $400 on May 3, marking its first climb to that level since early 2026.
- Over $10.5 million in ZEC short positions were liquidated as the coin reached a $7 billion market cap.
- Barry Silbert and Raoul Pal suggest Zcash may capture 10% of bitcoin capital as privacy demand grows.
ZEC Outpaces High-Cap Altcoins
The privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) surged past the $400 mark for the first time since late January amid renewed chatter regarding the privacy narrative. According to market data, ZEC rallied to $424 late Sunday (May 3, 9:35 p.m. EDT), outperforming the rest of the cryptocurrency market, which added more than $50 billion to its total market capitalization.
Although the coin gradually retreated to $414, it remained up nearly 8% over a 24-hour period, making it one of the dayโs top gainers among high-cap altcoins. The jump also pushed ZECโs weekly gains to approximately 17%. It joined Dogecoin (12%) as one of only two high-cap altcoins to post double-digit gains over that period.
The latest climb by ZEC continues a recovery trend that began shortly after March 8, when the asset tumbled below $200 for the first time since Oct. 9, 2025. Despite previously leading the privacy sector, ZEC eventually relinquished its position as the top privacy coin by market cap to rival Monero ( XMR) following a spike in XMRโs value earlier this year.
However, since hitting its year-to-date low, ZEC has risen by over 100%. Its market capitalization is now nearing $7 billion, closing the gap with XMR.
As seen in the final quarter of 2025, ZECโs sudden surge appears tied to remarks from industry influencers and key participants. In the latest cycle, Barry Silbert, founder of DCG and chairman of Grayscale, appears to be leading those promoting the coin. On May 3, writing on X in response to a user drawing parallels to bitcoinโs price action in 2015, Silbert said:
โIn 2015, we had no clue there was $2 trillion in demand for a global, decentralized digital store of value like bitcoin. In 2015, we also thought bitcoin was, generally speaking, a private way to store and send value around the world. Zcash will benefit from now knowing better.โ
A day earlier, Silbert responded to an article reporting that Brazil had banned the use of crypto for cross-border payments. According to the DCG founder, such a ban is not possible on a cryptocurrency โyou canโt see.โ
Global Macro Investor founder Raoul Pal joined the conversation, calling ZEC a โyounger siblingโ of bitcoin, while Youtube influencer Jesus Martinez went further, stating, โZcash will do what Bitcoin couldnโt do.โ
Meanwhile, ZECโs price action resulted in more than $10.6 million in short bets being liquidated over 24 hours, including a single largest liquidation of $1.1 million. In contrast, long positions wiped out were under $900,000 bringing total liquidations to $11.5 million.
