In the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency Zcash has surged by 20.6%. At the time of writing, ZEC is trading around $520 — its highest level since 2018.
The market capitalization of the privacy-focused coin has reached $8.5 billion. The token has climbed to 26th place among the largest cryptocurrencies by market value, surpassing Monero, Litecoin, Avalanche, Hedera, and Sui.
Amid Zcash reaching another multi-year high, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes predicted the ZEC rally would continue to $1000.
Choo Choo bitches.
Next stop $ZEC = $1k.
I hope all my haters keep shorting. pic.twitter.com/jjmnJgl00H
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) November 6, 2025
Previously, he forecast the coin could rise to $10,000.
Privacy in Vogue
Privacy-oriented assets have benefited from the growing demand for financial anonymity amid tightening regulations worldwide. Notably, from 2027, new AML rules in the EU will prohibit anonymous crypto accounts and the use of privacy coins like ZEC and XMR.
The sector’s market capitalization has increased to $26 billion, with a 5.8% rise in just the last 24 hours.
Zcash emerged as the primary beneficiary. However, some other coins also demonstrated impressive dynamics. Over the past week, Dash surged by more than 124%, while Decred’s price increased by 150%.
Horizen and Railgun appreciated by 46% and 42% respectively over the same period.
The positive trend of privacy cryptocurrencies stands out against the lackluster performance of the broader market. On November 5, Bitcoin fell below $100,000 for the first time since June, while Ethereum broke through the $3000 level.
The volume of shielded Zcash transactions also set another record at 4.96 million ZEC, according to ZecHub. This accounts for over 30% of the asset’s total supply.
CoinDesk Research noted that more than a third of all crypto operations occur on the private layer. Analysts highlighted that users are increasingly moving coins from public blockchains to encrypted environments.
Previously, Galaxy Digital expert Will Owens described Zcash as the “spiritual successor” to Bitcoin. He stated that supporters of the privacy coin view the excitement around ZEC as a return to cypherpunk principles.