Zcash (ZEC) surges to $629! Market cap breaks $10 billion, increasing 40 times in 15 months

Zcash price surges to $629, market capitalization breaks 10 billion! The privacy coin trend seems unstoppable. (Background: Arthur Hayes predicts: $ZEC will rise to $1000! Privacy coins outperforming, or just crazy speculation?) (Additional context: Privacy coin frenzy! DASH skyrockets 68% to $146, ZEC and DCR surge together, is compliance opening a Privacy clone season?) On the afternoon of the 11th after 3 PM, the spot price of privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) soared past $629.05, with market cap surpassing 10 billion dollars for the first time, breaking out amid Bitcoin’s volatility, bringing privacy coins back into the spotlight. Image source: CMC This sudden rise indicates a reevaluation of on-chain anonymity demand by capital, and also demonstrates that privacy technology remains attractive even under increased regulatory pressure. What is ZEC? Zcash is a cryptocurrency launched in 2016, featuring zk-SNARKs zero-knowledge proofs that verify transaction correctness without revealing addresses or amounts. The protocol offers both transparent addresses (t-address) and shielded addresses (z-address), allowing users to switch between transparency and full anonymity. ZEC has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins and uses PoW proof-of-work validation, mimicking Bitcoin’s design with scarcity narrative and security foundation. Privacy coin sector heats up ZEC’s market cap has surpassed Monero and Shiba Inu, entering the top 20, accelerating the rise of similar tokens like Dash and Horizen. Beyond sector effects, venture capital firms like a16z continue to invest in privacy protocols, highlighting that the market no longer views anonymity features as niche preferences but as an essential part of digital life. Although demand for private transactions remains strong, regulatory uncertainty is still the biggest risk. Governments worldwide are increasing pressure on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding regulations, requiring exchanges to delist or tighten scrutiny of anonymous coins. The Zcash team has improved efficiency through NU5 and Halo 2 upgrades and plans to explore a transition to PoS (Crosslink) to reduce energy consumption and enhance scalability. Technological innovation combined with a fixed supply supports the market’s view of ZEC as the “Bitcoin silver.” Related reports Power shift in privacy coins: Zcash’s market cap surpasses Monero for the first time—what underlying trends are at play? New privacy coin dominance: Zcash announces Q4 development roadmap focusing on four main goals, with ZEC surpassing Monero XMR. <Zcash (ZEC) surges to $629! Market cap breaks $10 billion, up 40 times in 15 months> This article was first published on BlockTempo, a leading blockchain news media outlet.