Zcash reached an intraday high of $1,029 on Friday, marking its strongest price in nearly a decade. The move triggered approximately $34.5 million in short position liquidations as traders were caught off guard by the break above the $1,000 level.
The rally built momentum from Thursday, when Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicated he would support holding interest rates steady. His remarks reduced September rate hike odds to 50.4% from 63.2% and sparked more than $415 million in short liquidations across the broader cryptocurrency market.
Zcash extended a significant run that began near $500 a month ago. The token eased to around $984 after reaching its intraday peak, representing approximately 20% gains over 24 hours. The privacy coin's market capitalization climbed toward $17 billion, pushing ZEC past Dogecoin to rank among the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Over longer periods, Zcash has demonstrated substantial gains. The token has gained about 94% over the past 30 days and more than 2,300% over the past year. Grayscale's Zcash ETF began trading on NYSE Arca under ticker ZCSH on August 25, providing traditional brokerage investors access to ZEC without requiring a cryptocurrency wallet.
Technical Positioning
Zcash's relative strength index sits at 78.6, well above the 70 level traders typically read as overbought territory. The 50-day moving average sits above the 200-day average in a bullish formation, while the Average Directional Index measures trend strength at 48, well above the 25 threshold used to confirm an established trend.
Support levels for potential pullbacks sit at $892.94 and $808.63 based on retracement calculations.
Broader Market Context
Zcash's outperformance contrasted with Bitcoin's movement on Friday. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the economy added 162,000 jobs in August, significantly above the consensus forecast of 56,000. This stronger-than-expected jobs report renewed expectations of a rate increase at the Federal Reserve's September 15-16 meeting, sending Bitcoin below $80,000 as traders adjusted their positioning.
