Zcash Surges 1,100%, Investors Begin Calling It the "New Bitcoin"

As Bitcoin’s price remains suppressed over the past year, the privacy-based cryptocurrency Zcash has stolen the spotlight in the market. Its value has soared more than 1,100%, sparking fresh speculation in the global crypto industry. Bitcoin has declined nearly 25% from its peak position in October last year. Bitcoin’s price is now around $80,000 per coin, down from a record high of $126,000. Nevertheless, Bitcoin’s price has rebounded about 30% from its lowest point. This rise has sparked optimism among some market players regarding the potential for a $16 trillion crypto “supercycle”. Quoted from Forbes on Friday (15/5/2026), Barry Silbert, founder of crypto investment firm Grayscale Investments, even likened Zcash’s current position to Bitcoin in 2013. “Zcash feels like Bitcoin in 2013,” Silbert said. Zcash is a fork or derivative of Bitcoin launched in 2016. Forbes previously revealed that this digital asset was also developed by the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden. Zcash’s price surge is also supported by several major investors in the crypto industry. Its market capitalisation now approaches $9 billion, though still far below Bitcoin’s approximately $1.6 trillion. Tushar Jain, managing partner at Multicoin Capital, said the privacy features make user identities and transaction details difficult to trace publicly. “Multicoin has taken a significant position in Zcash to support that thesis,” Jain said at a crypto conference, as quoted by Coindesk. Unlike Bitcoin, where all transactions can be traced openly on the blockchain, Zcash uses zero-knowledge cryptography technology to obscure user identities and transaction details. Support for Zcash also comes from twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, early Facebook investors. Last year, they backed crypto treasury firm Cypherpunk Technologies, which buys and holds Zcash. The company is now reported to hold more than 300,000 Zcash coins worth around $150 million. They also help fund Zcash project development. Zcash’s price rally has gained further strength after Silicon Valley investor Naval Ravikant called the asset “Bitcoin insurance” late last year.