Zcash price reaches a new high since 2016, with a market value exceeding 20 billion USD

The price of Zcash (ZEC) has risen to its highest level since 2016, with a market capitalization surpassing $20 billion. According to CoinGecko data, ZEC once reached $1,249.28 before falling back to around $1,195, having increased approximately 45% over the past week and 138% over the past 30 days. However, the current price is still below the historical high of $3,191.93 set on October 28, 2016.

This round of increases is primarily driven by Grayscale converting its Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The product code is ZCSH, which began trading on NYSE ARCA on August 25, allowing investors to gain exposure to ZEC through brokerage accounts. As of last Friday's close, the ETF reported $83.77, with assets under management reaching $463.2 million. Zcash allows users to choose between public transactions and "shielded" transactions, the latter utilizing zero-knowledge proofs to verify payments without disclosing the sender, receiver, or transaction amount.

Grayscale's research director Zach Pandl stated in an analysis on August 31 that this could become a "must-have" feature for privacy-focused users. Pandl pointed out that artificial intelligence might increase the demand for financial privacy by making it easier to associate public blockchain transactions with user identities.