Zcash back on track: Remarkable comeback of anonymous coin

Traders Union
All News
Editors' Picks
Zcash big comeback

All news

Editors' Picks

Crypto News

Financial News

Market Voices

Billionaires

Companies

Broker News

Regulators News

Olesia Kramarenko

04.10.2025

Zcash back on track: Remarkable comeback of anonymous coin — Zcash’s big comeback: From a 97% crash to a new three-year high

On October 2, the crypto world started talking about Zcash again. The privacy token, which many had already written off, surged more than 60%, reaching a three-year high of $158. Over the past week, it gained nearly 135%, making it one of the most dynamic altcoins of the season. The frenzy lifted the coin in the rankings from the 90s into the 60s among cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, while daily trading volumes jumped by 217%.

The main trigger was the launch of the Grayscale Zcash Trust (ZCSH), which opened access to Zcash for accredited investors without the need to purchase the token directly. This created a wave of interest among traditional market players. Adding fuel to the fire were social media discussions: well-known entrepreneurs and crypto influencers began openly comparing Zcash to Bitcoin and even calling it a “hedge against Bitcoin.”

To understand why this phrase resonates so strongly today, we need to look back nine years, to the birth of Zcash.

How it all began

Zcash appeared in October 2016, when the crypto world was still young and full of romance. Its creator was cryptographer and information security specialist Zooko Wilcox, who assembled a team of researchers from leading universities — MIT, Johns Hopkins, Technion, and Tel Aviv University. Together, they aimed to accomplish what previous projects could not: to create a truly private blockchain. Thus was born the Electronic Coin Company, which raised several million dollars in funding and introduced the first protocol where privacy was mathematically guaranteed.

The launch was explosive. In the first days of trading, the coin shot up to nearly $6,000 — a figure that seemed incredible even in a heated crypto market. But euphoria quickly gave way to cold skepticism.

Disputes and scandals

Controversy followed Zcash from the very beginning. The biggest questions revolved around the so-called “trusted setup” — the ceremony during which the network’s key parameters were generated. According to the rules, all keys had to be destroyed afterward. But what if someone kept them? Wouldn’t that make it possible to mint invisible coins? No evidence was ever found, but the mere possibility frightened investors.

Another problem was the difficulty of using shielded addresses. Although anonymity was supposed to be Zcash’s main advantage, most exchanges did not support shielded transactions. Users chose simplicity and stuck to transparent addresses. Meanwhile, competitor Monero was capturing the market with privacy that was easier and more intuitive.

Loading...

The tweet was deleted by the author.

But we saved everything 🙂.

The result was painful. From its record highs near $6,000, Zcash fell more than 97%, lingering in the shadows for a long time.

Money for development

Yet despite the crash, the project continued to live and evolve. The network went through a series of upgrades: from Overwinter and Sapling to Blossom, Heartwood, and Canopy. Each was aimed at making the system simpler, faster, and more reliable. Equally important was the issue of funding. At the start, twenty percent of all new coins went to the so-called Founders Reward — for developers and early investors.

This decision provoked heavy criticism, with part of the community seeing it as a “tax” on users. In November 2020, the model was changed: 80% of rewards now go to miners, while the remainder is split among the grant fund, ECC, and the Zcash Foundation. After the halving, the block reward stood at 3.125 ZEC.

But even this model has not proven final. In 2025, the community is engaged in heated debates: should the so-called Dev Fund continue after November, when its term ends, or should all rewards return to miners? The outcome of this debate may be decisive — it will determine whether Zcash has the resources to keep developing in the future.

Privacy versus transparency

To understand why discussions about Zcash and Bitcoin never cease, one must look at how they work. Bitcoin is built on absolute transparency: every transaction can be traced, even if an address looks anonymous. This ensures trust, but it also makes Bitcoin a perfect target for analytics and regulators.Zcash chose a different path. It retained the same deflationary model with a limit of 21 million coins but added the zk-SNARKs technology. Thanks to these proofs, users can hide all transaction details — addresses, amounts, participants. The network confirms validity without revealing anything. If transparency is required, the owner can provide a so-called view key, which opens information for read-only access. In this way, Zcash became not just an anonymous asset but a flexible tool: it allows one to remain invisible, yet, if necessary, leave a “window” for auditing.

Loading...

The tweet was deleted by the author.

But we saved everything 🙂.

And here lies the paradox. Despite marketing itself as a privacy coin, over 99% of Zcash transactions remain transparent. This suggests that privacy is more rhetoric than practice. Yet in a world where governments are developing central bank digital currencies, even the simple right to remain invisible is gaining new value.

What’s next

Now, after years of obscurity, Zcash is back in the spotlight. Its rapid rise in October 2025 serves as a reminder that demand for privacy never truly disappears. Whether this surge marks a new beginning or just another short-lived spike remains to be seen. But one thing is already clear: Zcash will always be more than just a coin. It is a symbol of the ongoing struggle between transparency and secrecy, between control and freedom.

Bitcoin became the banner of independence from the banking system. Zcash wants to become the banner of independence from total surveillance. And perhaps, that is its true mission.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.