Zcash Jumps 20% in 24 Hours, Tops $1,000 as Short Liquidations Exceed $34 Million

Privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) surged 20% in 24 hours, breaking above $1,000 as a wave of forced short liquidations added fuel to the rally.

CoinDesk reported on September 4 that Zcash climbed as high as $1,023 during the session. Daily trading volume reached about $1.2 billion, according to CoinGecko, while its market capitalization rose to roughly $17 billion.

Short positions accounted for most of the liquidations. Over the past 24 hours, leveraged Zcash positions worth a combined $36.6 million were liquidated, including $34.5 million in short positions. Short liquidations occur when exchanges forcibly close bearish bets because collateral is insufficient. Because traders must buy back tokens in the process, the moves can add further upward pressure.

Open interest in Zcash futures also surged. It climbed to about 2.3 million ZEC, equivalent to roughly $2.3 billion, signaling broader participation in derivatives alongside the spot-market rally.

Recent institutional developments also helped drive the gains. Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF, ZCSH, began trading on NYSE Arca in late August. The product had previously been structured as a trust available only to qualified investors before being converted into an ETF that retail investors can buy through brokerage accounts. CoinDesk has also reported that Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group is engaged in non-binding talks through a subsidiary to buy 200,000 ZEC.

Network performance has continued to improve as well. The team behind the Zcash node software Zebra, launched in July, unveiled a cryptographic tool earlier in September that cuts the time needed to create private transactions on mobile devices to less than 200 milliseconds from more than three seconds.

Zcash has gained about 94% over the past 30 days and more than 2,300% over the past year, making it one of the top performers among major cryptocurrencies.