Zcash rallies 15% as traders pull tokens to shielded pools

Zcash was one of the top gainers during the latest market rally, reaching a high of $35.69 as traders moved a record amount of tokens out of circulation. 

With crypto markets seeing a slight recovery, Zcash (ZEC) emerged as one of the top performers. On Tuesday, April 8, the token rose 15% to a daily high of $35.69 before stabilizing at $34.49. The rally coincided with Bitcoin’s brief move above $80,000, before it dropped back to $77,422. 

On-chain metrics also suggest growing trader confidence in the privacy-focused token. Just a day prior, the Zcash shielded pool supply spiked significantly, hitting an all-time high on Monday, April 7, nearing 2.9 million ZEC. According to the Zcash website, as of April 8, the figure sits at 2.54 million, representing 15.9% of all circulating supply.

Zcash sees record amount of tokens out of circulation

Shielded supply refers to the number of tokens held in z-addresses. Unlike other wallet types on the blockchain, these addresses obscure both supply and transaction direction to ensure privacy. Shielded supply is often viewed as an indicator of long-term confidence in the network. 

Notably, most centralized exchanges do not support trading with z-addresses due to anti-money laundering and know your customer compliance. This means these tokens are effectively removed from circulating supply, creating scarcity in the open market, which can support higher prices.

The record shielded supply also points to increased adoption of Zcash’s privacy features. Like Monero, Zcash markets itself as a privacy token, enabling fully anonymous transactions on-chain. 

Still, this feature has attracted the attention of regulators, who are skeptical of these tokens due to AML and KYC concerns. Notably, in 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security suggested that they are developing techniques to track transfers on these blockchains.