While top coins continued to struggle amid ongoing broader market turbulence, the privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) has extended recent gains as the price broke to highs of $55.
Zcash ranked among the standout performers in the 100 largest coins by market cap early Wednesday. With over 10% gains in 24 hours, ZEC is also green on the weekly time frame and well off the lows of $46 reached on Monday.
The altcoins’ uptick aligns with a broader resurgence in privacy-focused digital assets.
On September 23, Zcash’s native token, ZEC, dropped to lows of $48 as bulls struggled with overall sell-off pressure.
However, with key network milestones in place, a focus on privacy coins has seen ZEC bounce sharply with a robust 10% increase over the past 24 hours.
On September 24, bulls have pushed its price to above $55.
This surge follows a notable rally in early May, when ZEC briefly touched the resistance area around $56.
Bulls are looking to retest the key supply zone, and a 21% spike in daily trading volume to beyond $123 million suggests buyers are on top.
Notably, the uptick is part of a larger wave lifting privacy coins across the sector.
The privacy token category, which includes frontrunners like Monero (XMR) and Dash (DASH), has seen gains for XMR, DASH, DCR and ZANO.
According to CoinGecko, privacy coins outperformed the global crypto market in the past 24 hours.
Whereas the global crypto market cap has shrunk below $4 trillion, privacy coins are recording a 4% surge to over $8.2 billion.
Macroeconomic pressures, including geopolitical tensions and heightened regulatory scrutiny on transparent blockchains, have catalysed interest in privacy blockchains.
Zcash’s zk-SNARK technology positions it uniquely, allowing users to opt for shielded transfers that conceal sender, receiver, and amount information.
Adding fuel to Zcash’s ascent is the recent rollout of the Zashi CrossPay feature, a pivotal upgrade announced by the Electric Coin Company (ECC) on September 16, 2025.
CrossPay extends Zcash’s zero-knowledge proofs to cross-chain payments, allowing holders of shielded ZEC to execute private transactions on external blockchains via Near Intents.
Users can now convert and send ZEC seamlessly to recipients on other networks without exposing metadata or transaction histories, addressing a long-standing barrier in multi-chain ecosystems.
3/ This week, Zashi CrossPay changed the game:
Zashi users can send crypto payments in over 100 @NEARProtocol-supported assets, including stablecoins, BTC, ETH, SOL, and more, without compromising their privacy.https://t.co/AUFqNP6bD9
— Zashi (@zashi_app) September 17, 2025
Zashi, ECC’s self-custodial mobile wallet, serves as the gateway for this functionality.
Built with a privacy-first ethos, it minimizes data leakage and supports features like encrypted memos. The CrossPay rollout transforms Zcash from a siloed privacy tool into a versatile payment layer.
Zcash’s shielded transaction volume has jumped amid this rollout, and future integrations could fortify ZEC’s traction.
Technical indicators bolster the bullish outlook for Zcash’s price. A look at the daily chart shows the Relative Strength Index is above 60, indicating potential for further gains.
The MACD indicator also signals a bullish crossover, with the Zcash price retesting a key level after a technical breakout.
The post Zcash (ZEC) price surges 10% as privacy coins rally, boosted by Zashi CrossPay appeared first on CoinJournal.
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