ZEC extends rally even as BTC price slips

ZCash (ZEC) looks like the sole survivor of the crypto market. The coin expanded close to $480, as its climb is not affected by the overall market fear. 

ZCash (ZEC) once again moves against all market logic, returning to the $480 range. The coin rallied despite the dip of BTC to $105,000, moving on its own market logic. 

ZEC relies on active derivative trading, with open interest rising to over $582M. However, spot buying and accumulation is also happening, with a few hundred coins each day added to shielded pools. ZCash mining is also at an all-time high, with the hashrate reaching a record.

At the current stage, the ZCash community is showing true belief, but there are still skeptics who see the ZEC rally as an attempt at finding exit liquidity. 

ZEC rises on Solana-based activity

The two main sources of ZEC activity are derivative trades, and DEX trading on Solana. ZEC has become a DeFi token, though at much smaller volumes. However, this is also one of the main sources for making whale-sized orders and swaying the price. 

ZEC on Omni Bridge has a supply of 28,280 coins, with a total valuation above $13M. 

Recently, a whale made a $300K order, buying ZEC at $600, breaking above all other platforms. Previously, whale buyers have also boosted ZEC. 

Solana has now become the main decentralized venue for trading ZEC, with volumes recently posting a record. However, the DEX market remains much smaller compared to other listings for ZEC. 

On Solana, the ZEC narrative has replaced the meme token hype, after the trenches slowed down. Now, ZEC is seen as a potential source of liquidity and interest in DEX trading. The coin has returned to levels not seen since 2017, but has also received additional attention after years of inactivity. ZEC mindshare is up by another 574% since October 5, rising to 0.7%. 

The coin sees a mix of retail hype and whale activity. Recently, a whale opened a 5X long position on Solana, after depositing $7.9M USDC. 

ZEC still gets aggressively shorted

The current rally comes with over 62% in short positions on most major exchanges. On Hyperliquid, more whales are going long, with just 43% in short positions, betting on continued ZEC expansion. 

Based on short liquidity positions, ZEC may try to liquidate traders up to $495. However, there is liquidity on the downside, and ZEC has also shown it can dip to a lower range. 

ZEC is now the top privacy coin by market capitalization, even after taking a step back to $462. The token flipped Litecoin (LTC), and moved faster compared to other legacy private coins. 

Monero (XMR) remains active, though its expansion stalled at $344. Decred (DCR) and DASH also achieved near-vertical rallies, but are still incapable of catching up with ZEC. The privacy narrative is also not the main driver of the ZEC rally, which is getting a boost from influencers and whale traders. 

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