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ZEC Price Surges to $686 Amid $28 Million in Liquidations as Analysts Warn of a Coordinated Squeeez
Zcash, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, surged more than 17% within six hours, reaching a new yearly high on 20 May. As a result of the rally, its monthly gains exceeded 90%, while its market capitalisation surpassed $11 billion, overtaking rival Monero.
Key Takeaways
- On 20 May, Zcash surged more than 17% within six hours, surpassing the $11 billion market capitalisation mark.
- The $ZEC rally triggered $28.25 million in liquidations and allowed it to overtake Monero.
- To enter the top 10 crypto assets, $ZEC would need to rise above $1,000 and surpass Dogecoin’s $16.25 billion valuation.
Zcash Reaches a New Annual High
Zcash climbed to a new yearly high on 20 May amid a sluggish cryptocurrency rally, during which Bitcoin also briefly returned to the $78,000 level.
Market data showed that $ZEC jumped from $568 to an intraday peak of $686 in just over six hours, representing gains of more than 17% over a 24-hour period.
Although it later pulled back slightly, at the time of writing — 3:18 a.m. Eastern Time on 21 May — the privacy-focused token was still trading above $660, representing daily gains well above 10%.
The latest surge pushed $ZEC’s weekly gains slightly above 25% and its monthly increase to more than 90%. As a result, the privacy coin’s market capitalisation, which started the month below $6 billion, exceeded the $11 billion threshold.
Liquidations and Short Squeeze Dynamics
Meanwhile, the latest parabolic rise in Zcash triggered leveraged liquidations totalling $28.25 million over 24 hours — the second-largest figure recorded this year.
Data from Coinglass showed that liquidated short positions accounted for nearly $26.5 million, while the largest single liquidation reached $2.68 million.
Since the beginning of May, the value of $ZEC has steadily increased, fuelled by prominent supporters who view it as the true embodiment of financial privacy — a feature critics argue Bitcoin has lost.
This renewed privacy narrative, combined with an architecture widely regarded as superior to competitors, helped $ZEC overshadow Monero, whose market capitalisation stood at $7.3 billion at the time of writing.
Institutional Attention and Community Debate
The resurgence of Zcash even attracted the attention of The Wall Street Journal, which recently described the token as “a more secretive version of Bitcoin”.
Meanwhile, digital asset manager Grayscale argues that financial privacy will define the next crypto cycle, with $ZEC leading the movement.
On social media, some supporters of the privacy-focused coin, including David Hoffman, believe that $ZEC — currently ranked 13th — deserves a place among the top 10 digital assets by market capitalisation.
However, for that to happen, the cryptocurrency would need to surpass the $1,000 threshold in order to overtake Dogecoin, whose market capitalisation stood at $16.25 billion. The last time $ZEC traded above $1,000 was in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Alex Gladstein’s 20 May post on X about Zcash
Analysts Warn of Risks
At the same time, some critics see risks in the sudden price surge of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency.
Ted Pillows argued that the rally was essentially a short squeeze disguised as organic demand.
“Zcash did not solve its adoption, liquidity, or regulatory challenges overnight,” Ted Pillows wrote in a post on X.
“This looks far more like a coordinated squeeze than organic demand. Low circulating supply + low liquidity + aggressive perpetual positioning = sharp upward candles.”
See also: "Bitcoin Adds $20 Billion to the Crypto Economy as Traders Defend the $77K Support Level"
