Zcash slid to its lowest level in two months on Wednesday, falling to $962.85 as of 12:20 pm UTC. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency posted a 13.5% decline within 24 hours, leading to the biggest day’s loss among the 100 largest digital assets by market capitalization.
Broader crypto market under pressure
The drop in Zcash’s price formed part of a broader decline in the cryptocurrency market. Over the same seven-day period, Zcash lost 24.5% of its value. Major coins such as Bitcoin fell 5.8%, and Ether dropped 11.6%, based on data compiled by CoinGecko.
| Asset | 24h Change | 7d Change |
|---|---|---|
| Zcash | -13.5% | -24.5% |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | -5.8% | -5.8% |
| Ether (ETH) | -11.6% | -11.6% |
The overall sell-off intensified after US inflation data revealed a 0.4% rise in consumer prices for October, surpassing economists’ projection of a 0.3% increase. This unexpected uptick in inflation contributed to negative sentiment across the digital assets sector.
Privacy features and Grayscale’s latest moves
Zcash is designed to allow shielded payments, ensuring that details such as sender and recipient addresses, as well as transaction amounts, remain private and hidden from the public blockchain.
On Tuesday, Grayscale pledged $1 million to support nonprofit organizations and development projects working on the Zcash network. Grayscale, which operates investment vehicles for digital assets, recently converted its Zcash Trust into a US spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ETF launched on NYSE Arca on August 25 and provides professional investors regulated exposure to Zcash through traditional markets.
Mini dictionary: Grayscale is a leading crypto asset manager known for its digital currency investment products and trust funds, frequently acting as a bridge for institutional investors seeking exposure to cryptocurrencies through traditional financial channels.
Zcash Trust recorded net outflows of approximately $15 million in November through Monday, following $46 million in October, according to SoSoValue.
Recent upgrades and developer proposals
Zcash developers proposed another reduction in block time just days after the NU7 network upgrade, aiming to improve transaction throughput and network efficiency.
Zcash’s ability to facilitate shielded transactions remains a key differentiator, even as the network undergoes changes and faces market headwinds.
