Zcash gained about 20% over a 24-hour period following a disclosure by Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang that the crypto investment firm has purchased ZEC tokens. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency, which utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to conceal transaction amounts and addresses, traded around $1,338 on Thursday.
Huang revealed in a Wednesday post that Paradigm is an investor in the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) as well as a ZEC token holder. The announcement contributed to a wider rise that extended ZEC's one-month increase to roughly 160%, outpacing Bitcoin's 18.2% gain over the same period according to Coingecko data.
In his comments, Huang referred to Zcash as a "private complement to Bitcoin" and expressed support for its inflation-funded developer fund. He argued that long-term funding is necessary to address advancing quantum computing and AI-driven cyber capabilities. He additionally voiced support for combining Zcash coin voting with alternative governance methods to minimize monetary asset unpredictability.
While Paradigm's ecosystem involvement was previously established—having participated in ZODL's $25 million seed round in March alongside a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital—the specific token purchase disclosure is new. The recent price movement also coincided with a broader crypto market advance that followed the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point rate increase to 3.75%-4%, marking its first rate hike since 2023.
Data from Glassnode indicates that privacy coins have significantly outperformed the wider market. The sector was recorded at 213% above its level from Bitcoin's October 2025 peak, with a market basket excluding ZEC rising about 85% over the preceding year.
