Zcash plunges ~66% as Ethereum and Cardano push native privacy, futures demand wanes
Zcash (ZEC) has fallen roughly 66% from its November peak to about $250, cutting market cap from nearly $12bn to roughly $4.2bn. The decline accelerated after ZEC lost key technical supports (notably $385) and dropped beneath the 50- and 100-week EMAs, forming a bearish pennant and showing Wyckoff-style distribution. Futures open interest plunged from above $1.38bn to about $377m, signaling waning derivative demand. Traders and analysts point to multiple drivers: a broad crypto risk-off that pressured markets, profit-taking, and rising on-chain privacy competition — Ethereum’s proposed stealth addresses (ERC-5565) and potential layer-1 zero-knowledge privacy features, plus Cardano’s Midnight ZK sidechain heading for mainnet — which may erode ZEC’s unique value proposition. Regulatory headwinds and earlier team departures at Electric Coin Company further weakened investor confidence. Technical indicators and the drop in open interest increase near-term downside risk toward the $200 psychological support; a break could trigger further selling, while a hold may invite short-term bargain hunting. Relevant keywords: Zcash price, ZEC, futures open interest, technical analysis, Ethereum stealth addresses, ERC-5565, zero-knowledge, Cardano Midnight.
Bearish
The combined reports point to a bearish outlook for ZEC. Price action shows a clear technical breakdown: loss of key supports, trading below multi-week EMAs, and bearish pattern formation. Simultaneously, futures open interest has collapsed, indicating lower leveraged and institutional participation — a signal that liquidity and speculative demand have weakened. Fundamental pressures amplify the technical story: profit-taking amid a broader crypto risk-off, reputational hits from developer departures at Electric Coin Company, regulatory scrutiny of privacy coins, and increasing competition from on-chain privacy solutions from Ethereum (ERC-5565 stealth addresses and L1 ZK work) and Cardano (Midnight). In the short term, these factors increase the probability of further downside toward the $200 psychological level; a decisive break would likely accelerate selling as stop-losses cascade and liquidity thins. In the medium to long term, sustained recovery would require either renewed demand (e.g., product updates, clearer regulatory outcomes, or macro risk-on flows) or differentiation versus emerging privacy solutions. Without such catalysts, structural threats from competing protocols and diminished futures demand suggest the bearish trend may persist.