Zcash (ZEC) Crosses $1,000 for First Time Since 2018 as Market Cap Hits $17.18B

ZEC Reclaims Four Digits After Eight Years

Zcash (ZEC) broke above $1,000 on September 4, gaining 22.5% in 24 hours and touching $1,022 intraday — the privacy coin's first four-digit price since early 2018. The altcoin move dwarfed Bitcoin's 4.3% gain over the same window. ZEC's market capitalization reached roughly $17.18 billion, enough to enter CoinGecko's top 10 and push past Dogecoin, which sits at $13.64 billion. That valuation now stands at 1.66 times that of long-standing privacy leader Monero, worth $10.32 billion — a changing of the guard in the sector.

The rally did not appear overnight: over the past 30 days ZEC has gained 97.7%, the one-year return reaches roughly 2,417%, and August's 82% advance made it the best-performing large-cap asset of the month. Two structural catalysts landed in August. On August 25, Grayscale converted its nine-year-old Zcash trust into the first US spot Zcash ETF, trading as ZCSH on NYSE Arca with roughly $304 million in assets at launch — as we covered when Grayscale's ZCSH started trading on NYSE Arca. Regulators also removed a long-standing overhang: the Zcash Foundation disclosed in its Q1 report that the SEC closed its multi-year investigation, informing the foundation — subpoenaed in August 2023 — that it would not recommend enforcement action, with no penalty, settlement or required changes. Years of delisting fear and regulatory FUD had been the sector's biggest discount, and that portion of the risk has now been lifted. Supply mechanics reinforce the bull case: ZEC shares Bitcoin's 21 million cap, about 16.91 million coins — roughly 80% of supply — are already mined, and approximately 30% of circulating ZEC sits in shielded addresses. Grayscale's undervalued thesis ties fresh demand to AI-driven surveillance risk, arguing that Zcash's privacy model will be repriced once large-scale on-chain analytics become the norm. Still, this is not a new all-time high: the record dates to ZEC's October 2016 launch window — $3,191 per CoinGecko, $5,941 per CoinMarketCap — leaving the current price about 68% below the CoinGecko benchmark.

10x Research Model Overshot Its $860 Target

The breakout was flagged in advance. 10x Research's quantitative model generated a buy signal for the ZEC-USD pair on August 21 at an entry of $720.03, scoring 7.2 out of 10 — a level the firm classified as high conviction. The framework set a one-month target of $860 with a stop-loss at $667, calibrated against 10 historical instances of similar technical setups that produced a median 30-day return of 19.5% and an approximately 80% success rate. ZEC has since climbed more than 34% from the signal price, clearing the $860 target well ahead of schedule and changing hands near $965 when the update circulated. Notably, the signal arrived before either August catalyst was confirmed, suggesting momentum traders had already begun pricing in regulatory relief and the ETF conversion. The chart published alongside the research showed price action decisively above the 90-day moving average — a signature of strong momentum that also raises short-term volatility risk. After advances of this slope, profit-taking can accelerate price swings in either direction, a dynamic the firm itself flagged. Our own read is straightforward: the call worked, but the risk-reward for new entries has shifted — buying a parabolic chart is a different proposition from taking a signal at $720. For readers new to the asset, our explainer on the protocol's trusted setup covers the cryptography behind Zcash's shielded transactions. The rally's durability now matters more than its velocity: holding four figures through the first bout of profit-taking would confirm the regime change, while a swift round trip would suggest the move was largely a momentum chase — for those building exposure, our How to Buy Zcash (ZEC) guide walks through the practical steps. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Gate.

10x Researchhttps://x.com/10xResearch/status/2095767540505198924

COINOTAG Composite Puts $1,020 Resistance in Play

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates the immediate resistance at $1,020.34 at 68/100, driven by the confluence of R1, overbought RSI and Stochastic readings, and the 0.000 Fibonacci level; the nearest support at $862.49 scores 76/100 (STRONG), backed by Fibo 0.214, S1, EMA 20 and the Bollinger midline. Momentum is stretched — RSI at 79.23 with a bullish MACD inside a confirmed uptrend. Derivatives positioning adds nuance: funding at 0.0021% with $816.7 million in open interest signals persistent demand without extreme crowding, while a Fear & Greed reading of 74 (Greed) flags stretched sentiment. Bullish case: hold $862, break $1,020 toward extension. Invalidation: a daily close below $862.