Zcash (ZEC) has been on the move again, Cypherpunk Technologies, the treasury arm backed by the Winklevoss twins, just bought 203,775 ZEC worth $59M, and the firm says it plans to scale its holdings to 5% of ZEC’s entire supply.
That alone pushed the ZEC price up more than 21%. At the same time, Ledger caused frustration by dropping support for pre-2018 addresses, while new updates like Zashi’s shielded swap system made private ZEC easier to use than ever.
The mix of institutional buying, new tools, and some ecosystem hiccups has created one of Zcash’s most interesting moments in years.
Arthur Hayes believes Zcash is one of the only assets that can outperform during a dollar-liquidity crunch. He argues that markets still underestimate how valuable privacy will become as regulation, surveillance, and institutional settlement all move into crypto.
In his view, ZEC has the fundamentals, scarcity, and use case to behave as a “premium privacy asset” rather than just another altcoin.
That’s why Hayes thinks the ZEC price could reach 20% of Bitcoin’s price, not its market cap, but its price level relative to BTC.
At today’s numbers, that projection puts ZEC at roughly $18,200. It’s a dramatic target, but Hayes says the macro environment is shifting in a way that favors privacy assets far more than the market realizes.
🔥ARTHUR HAYES: $ZEC is the ONLY coin that can outrun the dollar-liquidity crunch.
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) November 19, 2025
He says $ZEC can rise to 20% of $BTC which equals $18.2K at current price. pic.twitter.com/8AoDHmz3MH
Why This Isn’t Just Hype Around ZEC
The recent $59M treasury purchase shows that institutions are treating ZEC the same way corporate treasuries treated Bitcoin in 2020. When a firm openly accumulates 1.25% of a coin’s supply and aims for 5%, it reduces circulating supply and creates long-term price pressure.
On top of that, the new Zashi Wallet upgrade lets anyone buy shielded ZEC directly using assets like BTC or ETH, something users couldn’t do before. That change removes one of the biggest barriers to private-pool adoption, and shielded ZEC already makes up almost 30% of supply.
Yes, Ledger’s temporary support issue created some noise, but it hasn’t stopped new buyers from entering the ecosystem. In fact, the mix of institutional accumulation and easier private usage has strengthened confidence around Zcash.
Where ZEC Price Could Go If Hayes Is Right
If ZEC does reach 20% of Bitcoin’s price, the target becomes $18,200 based on today’s BTC levels. Even a partial scenario, say 5–10% of BTC’s price, would put the ZEC price between $4,500 and $9,000, far above its previous all-time high.
There are still risks. Supply concentration, regulatory pressure, and wallet-support issues can slow momentum.
But momentum is clearly shifting. Institutions are buying. New tools are boosting usage. And the privacy narrative is getting stronger just as the market prepares for a tightening macro environment. If Hayes is right about what comes next, Zcash might be just getting started.
Read Also: XRP Price Looks Set for Its Next Move: Here’s the Key Trigger to Watch
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