Zcash Tops $1,000 for First Time as Grayscale ETF Inflows Spur Rally

Zcash (ZEC) rose above $1,000 for the first time, driven by rapid inflows into Grayscale’s Zcash exchange-traded fund and a wave of new computing power entering the mining network.

On Sept. 4, Zcash climbed as high as $1,086 intraday on Binance’s USDT market, breaking through $1,000 for the first time on record. The token has gained about 94% over the past month, and its market capitalization was approaching $17 billion. Zcash was trading around $200 as recently as March.

The immediate catalyst for the surge was the launch of Grayscale’s ETF. On Aug. 25, Grayscale converted its existing Zcash Trust into an ETF and listed it on NYSE Arca. It is the first ETF in the US to offer direct exposure to ZEC. Grayscale data show ZCSH has recorded about $34.4 million in net inflows since launch, including $12.6 million on Sept. 2 alone, a daily record.

The mining network has also expanded rapidly. According to Zcashinfo, the network’s solrate, a measure of computing power, rose from about 25 GSol/s at the end of August to briefly exceed 30 GSol/s recently. Profitability, however, slipped slightly as mining competition intensified. Energy research firm The Energy Mag said the Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro, currently the top-spec mining machine, generates about $708 in total revenue per 1 MWh of electricity, down about 3% from $727 on Aug. 24, when ZEC was trading below $900.