The cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) demonstrated a robust reversal on Friday, pushing its price upward by 11%. This notable surge set it apart from other notable digital coins, including Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which did not match this level of upward momentum during the same period.
As of the close on Friday, Zcash was valued at approximately $434.39, reflecting a market capitalization near $7.15 billion. In contrast, Dogecoin's price hovered around $0.1397 with a market cap of $23.5 billion, while Shiba Inu held a price level of about $0.058644 and a market value of $5.09 billion. However, their respective seven-day trends are divergent, with Zcash showing a negative 13.3% change, Dogecoin an 8% increase, and Shiba Inu up by 14.8% over the week.
Market participants are closely monitoring these movements. Analyst Altcoin Sherpa highlighted privacy as a persistent, compelling narrative for Zcash’s appeal. The trader suggested that with Bitcoin holding its value steady, Zcash could potentially climb back towards the mid-to-high $400 range. While positioned neutrally after a prior acquisition, the analyst remains cautious, awaiting a clearer market signal or a more advantageous entry point.
Looking at historical data, Santiment's analysis demonstrated a significant upswing for Zcash in late 2025. Its market capitalization increased by nearly fifteenfold within a timeframe shorter than two months. However, since that vigorous rise, momentum has decreased substantially. Development activity related to Zcash has declined to the lowest level observed since 2021, coinciding with an approximate 40% price retracement over the preceding two months.
Such a combination of reduced innovation and notable price pullback often signals challenges ahead for altcoins. This trend has led some market observers, including 10x Research, to express caution. Their recent notes indicate that ZEC is trading below its seven-day and 30-day moving averages following a recent decline of 19.4% across a single week.
Compounding these technical indicators is a recent upheaval within Zcash’s core development team. The entire group resigned from the Electric Coin Company amid disputes regarding governance. While the former leadership is intent on continuing privacy-centered development through a newly formed independent entity, the situation has created uncertainty among holders.
Supporting this concern, approximately $3.8 million worth of ZEC has been transferred from shielded pools—meant to provide privacy—to transparent addresses. This movement may reflect diminishing confidence among some investors in the coin’s privacy assurances and broader prospects.
On the community development front, Josh Swihart, the original creator of Zcash, has announced plans to launch a startup focused on the cryptocurrency. The new enterprise will develop a wallet derived from the existing Zashi codebase, provisionally named "cashZ." Swihart emphasized the ambition to scale Zcash adoption to billions of users, arguing that startup ventures can achieve growth more rapidly than nonprofit organizations.
This landscape unfolds as market participants weigh Zcash's short-term price gains against fundamental uncertainties, evaluating how the ongoing privacy narrative and governance challenges will shape its trajectory amidst a competitive cryptocurrency environment.