A short squeeze has pushed Zcash (ZEC) past $1,000 for the first time since 2018, with shorts absorbing 94 percent of $22.90 million in 24-hour liquidations and trader Garrett Jin down more than $18 million. Whether the rally holds now hinges on ZEC clearing $1,000 to open a $1,200 target or losing $935.50 support into September's historically weak seasonality.
ZEC crossed $1,000 for the first time in eight years on Sept. 4, after shorts absorbed $21.46 million of the $22.90 million liquidated across exchanges over the prior 24 hours.
"ZEC is mostly dependent on bitcoin right now," pseudonymous analyst Altcoin Sherpa said, arguing the privacy token should outperform if BTC extends higher and reverse course if Bitcoin weakens.
The breakout caps a climb from roughly $300 in mid-August, leaving ZEC up 88.1 percent over 30 days and about 353 percent over six months, per Bitcoin.com News. Derivatives volume jumped 116.39 percent to $6.66 billion and open interest rose 39.47 percent to $2.24 billion, CoinEdition reported. Yet account ratios on Binance and OKX still show more traders positioned short than long, at 0.61 and 0.32, even as shorts absorbed 94 percent of Thursday's liquidations. Trader Garrett Jin's short position has lost more than $18 million, according to CryptoPotato.
The open question is whether the squeeze extends or September's weak seasonality takes hold. ZEC's median September return over six years is -9.78 percent, its second-weakest month. A close above $1,000 opens a measured-move target near $1,200, while losing $935.50 risks a pullback toward the 20-day EMA at $775.78.
The run follows the first US spot ETF built around a privacy coin. Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into "The Zcash ETF" (ZCSH) on NYSE Arca on Aug. 24, with Coinbase as custodian and Bank of New York Mellon as administrator, after the SEC closed its Zcash Foundation probe in January. Zcash's hashrate sits at 91 percent of its record, and the Bitmain Z15 Pro miner earns about $59.09 a day at current prices, per asicminervalue.com.
ZEC's recovery also comes after a rough June, when a researcher flagged a vulnerability in Zcash's shielded pool that cut the token more than 60 percent from around $650 to under $300 before the rebound. Relative strength at 74.32 is overbought but has not diverged from price, CoinEdition noted, leaving room for the squeeze to run before momentum fades.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
