Zcash Sentiment Ticks Up as Privacy Coin's Price Jumps 9%

In brief

• Privacy coin Zcash is up 9% in the past 24 hours, hitting $376.90.
• Sentiment around Zcash on prediction market Myriad is thawing after flipping bearish last week, with 40% now anticipating a pump to $550—up 8% from the start of the week.
• The Electric Coin Company, which launched the cryptocurrency, saw a mass leadership exodus in recent weeks, with offshoot projects emerging in its wake.

Market sentiment for Zcash looks more optimistic today among traders, as users on prediction market Myriad now think there’s a 40% chance the privacy coin will hit $550 before it hits $250—up roughly 8% from Monday’s low. The news comes as Zcash is now up 8.7% in the past 24 hours, hitting $381, according to CoinGecko data. Zcash’s rocky month

Market sentiment still inclines bearish after sentiment flipped at the start of last week, according to traders on Myriad, owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan. Nevertheless, the current resurgence of optimism follows what was a rough month for the privacy coin. It’s still down over 26% month-on-month despite recent gains, following internal mass executive resignations at the Electric Coin Company, which created the cryptocurrency, announced on January 8. The management disruption, which is thought to stem from a disagreement between upper management and the board over a potential for-profit transition, has prompted the emergence of several new Zcash-adjacent projects. Former CEO Josh Swihart is now leading a new project known as CashZ, which plans to launch a new privacy-coin-centric crypto wallet. Meanwhile, another Zcash-focused developer has received investment from Gemini founders the Winklevoss twins. Despite internal turmoil, its Zcash has also scored some big wins during 2026. On January 15, the Zcash Foundation confirmed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had ended a probe into the organization without recommending enforcement action. The non-profit had been aware of the probe since August 2023, under the reign of former chair Gary Gensler.

Zcash isn’t the only privacy coin performing well over the past 24 hours. The sector as a whole is up 8.8% in the past 24 hours, per CoinGecko data, with Verge (XVG) up 6.6%, DASH up 5.8% and Monero (XMR) up 3.6% over the same period.