Zcash Co-Founder Sticks With $5,000 ZEC Call as Privacy Coin Blows Past $1,600 🛡️

Zcash co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson has reaffirmed his year-end $5,000 forecast for ZEC, reiterating the target in a recent X post while stopping short of explaining the token's latest rally. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency has climbed more than 100% over the past 30 days, briefly trading above the $1,600 mark as renewed attention around shielded transactions coincided with a broader rotation into older digital assets.

Ben-Sasson said he "still feels" his $5,000 year-end prediction remains on track, without offering a specific catalyst for the move. He noted that more large holders, or "whales," have been asking about the surge, adding that he has no clear explanation for the price action even as ZEC continues to outperform major peers on a monthly basis.

Institutional flows have also picked up. Grayscale's Zcash ETF has crossed $1 billion in assets under management, a milestone that underscores growing allocator interest in privacy infrastructure following years of muted demand. The fund's growth tracks a wider expansion of spot crypto ETF products in the United States since the approval of bitcoin and ether funds earlier in the cycle.

Market data shows ZEC trading activity has spiked alongside price, with on-chain analytics pointing to rising shielded-pool usage and a jump in transaction counts on the network. Developers have attributed increased throughput to ongoing protocol upgrades aimed at reducing proof-generation times and improving wallet performance, though they have not linked those changes directly to the recent price move.

For now, the co-founder's reiterated target sets a clear benchmark for the rest of the year, with $5,000 representing more than triple ZEC's recent levels if reached by December 31.