The proliferation of cryptocurrencies means they all don’t get the same publicity. There are even those that get no publicity at all. The common ones are usually those with the highest value or market cap, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, XRP, Litecoin, etc. Or the ones that have been hyped by the internet, such as Dogecoin.
Zcash Network Upgrade 5 (NU5) was activated on the mainnet on 31 May. It is the most important milestone for Zcash since the cryptocurrency launched in 2016 — and as Electric Coin Co. ( ECC ) CEO Zooko Wilcox put it, “a historic step forward for human society.”
NU5, the first major upgrade since November 2020, includes the launch of the Orchard shielded payment protocol, utilizing the Halo proving system to remove reliance on complex setup ceremonies. The efficiencies built into this upgrade make possible — for the first time ever — private, trustless digital cash payments on mobile phones. Halo also paves the way for increased interoperability by providing a system that could unlock private cross-chain proofs at scale.
Determining its potential is not easy, and if you are planning to invest in Zcash, that’s something you will want to know. For one, ZEC’s big pump has been predicted. Fortunately, we have examined the digital asset using experts’ opinions and analysis. Here, we discuss the future prices of Zcash and if it is worth investing in.
Today’s Zcash price is $89.26 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $82,136,940. Zcash is up 0.60% in the last 24 hours. The current CoinMarketCap ranking is #43, with a live market cap of $1,297,236,101. It has a circulating supply of 14,532,575 ZEC coins and a max. supply of 21,000,000 ZEC coins.
Read also:
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- ZEC price analysis: ZCash breaches resistance at $147.6, turns bullish
What is Zcash?
Zcash is not your popular digital asset, and unless you are looking for it, you are unlikely to come across a piece of news about its price. That is why it is necessary to explain what it is all about before examining its price prediction.
ZEC coin was introduced as a digital currency with its first mining in October 2016. But development started as far back as 2013. It was led by Matthew Green, the John Hopkins professor, along with some graduate students. Later on, the Zcash Company, led by Zooko Wilcox, will complete the work with over $3 million raised from venture capitalists.
The initial hype surrounding the digital asset was very high. Within a week of its first mining, a token was already worth $5000. Zcash was developed using Bitcoin codebase, so it is not surprising that it is similar to bitcoin in many ways. For example, it has a maximum supply of 21 million tokens too.
However, what Zcash uses as a unique selling point is the anonymity of transactions. According to the creators, the privacy of transactions on Zcash is exceptional. While it also posts transaction data on a public blockchain, there is an option for confidentiality.
This option comes in the form of a shielded transaction that makes it possible to have financial privacy. It integrates Zero-knowledge proof, a feature that makes it possible to verify transactions without knowing how much is sent, the recipient, or the sender. This feature is an optional one as transparent transactions are also very possible. It is also possible to have selective disclosure where a user can determine which transaction details they wish to make public or share.
The Zcash Company changed its name to Electric Coin Company in 2019. It did this, claiming its official name has always been Zerocoin Electric Coin Company, which is now known as ECC.
Although the creators have said the privacy features of the currency are not designed for illegal activities, the privacy features continue to be investigated. In a paper titled Alt-Coin Traceability and released in May 2020, it remains questionable if Zcash is as private as it claims to be. Recently, ECC announced plans to donate all the company shares to a non-profit organization known as the Bootstrap Project.
According to the creators, Zcash is built on rigorous science. The tokens fall into either the shielded pool or transparent pool. Observations show that most users do not make use of the privacy options available on the network. It is why it is regarded as a privacy coin.
ZEC addresses are of two types – the T-addresses and the Z-addresses. The T-addresses are transparent, while the Z-addresses are private. Beyond the privacy of Zcash, another significant feature is its fast transactions that attract very low fees.
The man behind ZCash, Zooko Wilcox, was also in close contact with Satoshi Nakamoto and who also wrote the first blog on Bitcoin that was embedded into the Bitcoin.org website. He claims that it is time for the project to move from the Proof of Stake consensus.
Factors influencing Zcash Price
Volatility is a dominant feature of digital assets. However, this volatility doesn’t just happen; it is motivated by certain variables. Identifying and observing these variables will help in predicting the prices.
The factors could be external or internal. For Zcash, here are the factors motivating its prices
- Demand and supply
Nothing affects any market, like demand and supply. For a digital asset like Zcash with limited supply, the effect is more visible. These two factors work hand in hand to determine the worth of Zcash.
However, demand and supply are influenced by other factors. Thus, it can be seen as an overarching factor. It is important to study and pay attention to demand and supply, especially when you are investing.
When more people are looking to buy than sell, the price will go up and vice versa. Ironically, the higher the price, the more interested people are in buying, and the more people want to hold.
- Investor confidence and social buzz
The public or media attention on a crypto asset usually affects its price. An easy way of seeing this is with Dogecoin, which increased in value solely on the back of internet mentions and tweets.
The logical explanation for this is that the more people talk about it, the more people are interested. Cryptocurrencies have thrived on social buzz, which spikes investors’ interest and confidence.
Zcash’s entry into the market represents a textbook example of this. The expectations and excitement were incredibly high. In the end, it influenced the price massively.
- Halving
Halving is a phenomenon that applies to cryptocurrencies that are mined. It means that the reward for mining would be slashed by half every four years, a way to control inflation and the total units in circulation.
The first halving for Zcash happened in November 2020. Generally, halving leads to an increase in price as the supply will decrease with Bitcoin on multiple occasions.
Zcash’s first halving also experienced something similar as the price increased from $61.50 to $76.39 between November 9 and 23.
- Technological improvements
Another factor that influences the price is the updates of the underlying technology for the cryptocurrency. It has been observed that even the mere announcement of future updates could drive the price up.
- Adoption
Closely related to social buzz is adoption. One of the factors that have continued to increase the price of Bitcoin is its adoption. As more investors, especially institutional ones, get involved, the price goes up.
An increase in demand also increases the confidence that many investors will get from such adoption. Those who are not already invested too will want to get involved to avoid missing out.
Zcash Price History
When Zcash was first launched in 2016, it garnered attention which worked in its favor. Within the first few weeks, it reached an incredibly high price of around $6000. But this didn’t last long. It later came down drastically to stabilize at between $40 to $70. The price of Zcash has always been fluctuating; for instance, it was worth about $900 in 2018.
Zec historical performance by coinmarketcap
To understand a cryptocurrency’s price history, one needs to know the factors that influence the increase in value. Generally, the excitement of its launch and similarities with Bitcoin must have helped it achieve an incredibly high value during its launch.
After that, the token would have a quiet year till May 2017. The developers partnered with JP Morgan to introduce Zcash privacy technology to the JP Morgan blockchain platform this year. The partnership led to a spike in price, with Zcash trading for about $400 by June of that year. Its market value also increased, and it entered the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The price later returned to its regular value below a hundred.
In 2018, the price increased again thanks to the crypto boom that started in late 2017. The price increased to about $900, but this didn’t last long. With the end of the crypto boom also came a fall in value for the currency. In June 2018, it rose above $100 again.
It took until February 2020 for the price to increase again, thanks to the efforts of crypto bulls. By August, it has managed to cross the $100 mark once again. It will later drop in value but maintain stability at a level above its previous lows.
Throughout this period, the ZEC protocol has improved tremendously. However, its first halving in 2020 has a significant effect on the price, just like it does with other cryptocurrencies.
Zcash Technical Analysis
Having a precise outlook of what Zcash could be worth in the future is important for investors; it is not enough to look ahead but look behind and around too.
The price broke up 200MA on a 1H Timeframe. Zcash holds the upper boundary of the downward channel. The price formed the upward channel. Volatility declined like volumes of trading. We can expect that the price will grow after fixing above the support level
At present, Zcash is trading in a bearish market, and the movement is low. It reached its highs in the month of April-May.
For a token that launched at over $2000, Zcash has been very disappointing for a while now. When it entered the market, investors were very excited about it, and it showed in its value at that time. For some moments in October 2016, it was the most valuable cryptocurrency.
Whether it will ever reach those heights again, remain very questionable, but its current run is worth watching. Many believe that this price form is motivated by the crypto bull run. While this is true, Zcash is a late beneficiary in that run.
Several other cryptocurrencies have been enjoying the perks since late 2020, but it took the new year for Zcash to catch up with the trend. No one knows how long this will sustain, but one thing looks certain, Zcash stands to benefit a lot more if the bull run should continue.
Price Prediction by Authority Sites
Wallet Investor
According to our WalletInvestor, ZEC is an awesome long-term (1-year) investment. Wallet predicts that the maximum price at the end of the year would be $277, which would mean a surge in price. With a 5-year investment, the revenue is expected to be around +309.98%. Your current $100 investment may be up to $409.98 in 2027.
LongForecast
LongForecast has the most pessimistic view of Zcash (ZEC) price prediction, and it starts with $289-$358 in Jan 2022. By mid-2025, a Zcash price equal to $78-$100 is expected from a bearish cryptocurrency market. A four-year projection would show increasing reductions in trading price, topped in 2026 by a total year reduction of -84.9%
CoinCodex
The value of Zcash is predicted by CoinCodex to drop by -25.16% and reach $ 66.88 by June 10, 2022. Their technical indicators show current sentiment is Bearish while the Fear & Greed Index is showing Extreme Fear. Zcash recorded 14/30 (47%) green days with 11.52% price volatility over the last 30 days. Based on their Zcash forecast, it’s now a bad time to buy Zcash.
Cryptopolitan
Zcash Price Prediction 2022
According to our Zcash price prediction for 2022, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $104.27, with a minimum price of $101.04 and a maximum of $117.34.
Zcash Price Prediction 2023
By 2023, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $447.02, with a minimum price of $141.56 and a maximum of $176.35.
Zcash Price Prediction 2024
According to our Zcash price prediction for 2024, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $217.19, with a minimum price of $210.71 and a maximum of $249.29.
Zcash Price Prediction 2025
By 2025, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $313.68, with a minimum price of $302.78 and a maximum of $368.52. ZEC’s price has almost tripled compared to its price in 2022, or a 200% increase.
Zcash Price Prediction 2026
According to our Zcash price prediction for 2026, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $447.02, with a minimum price of $434.27 and a maximum of $524.18.
Zcash Price Prediction 2027
By 2027, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $649.59, with a minimum price of $627.24 and a maximum of $770.87.
Zcash Price Prediction 2028
According to our Zcash price prediction for 2028, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $985.35, with a minimum price of $955.37 and a maximum of $1101.44.
Zcash Price Prediction 2029
By 2029, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $1,398.52, with a minimum price of $1,349.35 and a maximum of $1,644.48. ZEC’s price has almost increased by 1,343% compared to its price in 2022. This seems mindboggling but not impossible with cryptocurrencies.
Zcash Price Prediction 2030
By 2030, the price of ZEC can hit an average of $2,031.90, with a minimum price of $1,961.97 and a maximum of $2,358.68. ZEC’s price has almost increased by 1,854% compared to its price in 2022. The volatility of the coin plus the demand for it (with low supply) could take the price higher.
Zcash Price Prediction by Industry Experts
Barry Silbert
Recap
The decision to buy Zcash is a personal one that predictions and data will only help you with it. On a short-term projection, investing in Zcash looks tricky because price predictions are not uniform. While some believe it will increase, others think it is a bad short-term investment.
However, the opinions on long-term investment are quite uniform. Almost every prediction platform, including WalletInvestor, expects an increase in price in two to five years. The predictions are already fully explained above, and you can study them to make your decision. If you choose to invest, there are lots of crypto exchange platforms that list Zcash.
Price predictions are a good place to start when investing, but it is important to know that the market can change anytime. The market’s volatility means it is important to stay up to date if you’re planning to invest. ZEC when we last looked is moving in the right direction and one analyst advises to hold it. Look also at how to mine Zcash.
In the end, it all boils down to taking calculated risks. You can study the forces that influence prices and study the market before making the final decision.