ZEC rose more than 13% to just over $618 in the past 24 hours, a sharp contrast to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana — all of which fell during the same window. The privacy coin's rally comes as the network hits fresh milestones and institutional tailwinds build: the SEC closed its investigation into the Zcash Foundation back in January, Grayscale moved to convert its Zcash trust into a spot ETF, and Multicoin Capital disclosed a significant ZEC position last month, calling the token the 'cleanest way' to express the privacy coin thesis.
Why ZEC bucked the trend
The SEC's decision to drop its probe removed a cloud that had hung over the project for months. Combined with Grayscale's ETF conversion filing, the regulatory picture turned suddenly brighter. Multicoin's public backing in May added further legitimacy — the fund's partners argued Zcash offers unique privacy properties that competing chains can't easily replicate. The November 2024 halving, which cut new ZEC issuance in half, already tightened supply; the market appears to be repricing that scarcity now that demand catalysts are lining up.
On-chain metrics hit records
Zcash's shielded supply — the amount of ZEC held in private addresses — reached an all-time high of about 5.1 million ZEC. The Orchard pool alone holds roughly 4.5 million ZEC, while Sapling and Sprout account for about 592,000 and 25,000 ZEC, respectively. The network's hashrate also hit a new peak of 16.3 GH/s in late May, signaling growing miner commitment. These figures suggest real usage is expanding, not just speculative trading.
Derivatives show conviction
On Hyperliquid, ZEC recorded net buying pressure of about $33.73 million over the period — while Bitcoin saw net selling of over $506 million, and Ethereum and Solana also bled. Open interest in ZEC sat near $368 million across roughly 7,190 traders. Its annualized funding rate ran at about 40.77%, nearly four times the 10.95% on both Bitcoin and Ethereum. That kind of premium signals that leveraged longs are willing to pay up to hold positions, a bullish bet on continued momentum.
The Grayscale ETF conversion is still pending SEC approval — no deadline has been set. The halving has already baked in the supply reduction, but the combination of a cleared regulatory slate, a well-known fund's endorsement, and record network usage gives ZEC a story that few other altcoins can tell right now. Whether the funding rate stays elevated or the buying pressure broadens beyond Hyperliquid will determine if this is a one-day spike or the start of a longer run.
