Zcash reaches highest price since 2016 as market value exceeds $20 billion

Zcash (ZEC) rose to its highest level since 2016, pushing its market capitalization above $20 billion. The token briefly traded near $1,249 before easing to around $1,195, after gaining about 45% over the past week and 138% over the past 30 days. The move comes after Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into an ETF that started trading on Aug. 25 under the ticker ZCSH. The fund gives investors exposure to ZEC through brokerage accounts and had about $463.2 million in assets under management as of Friday. Zcash is known for offering both public and shielded transactions, with the latter using zeroknowledge proofs to hide sender, recipient, and amount. Grayscale research has argued that demand for financial privacy could grow as AI makes blockchain activity easier to link to real identities.