After several weeks with Bitcoin at the center of the market’s attention, the largest crypto assets are now moving very little. Bitcoin was trading at $86,264.06, up 0.59% over 24 hours, while Ethereum sat at $2,714.39, up 0.34%.
CoinGecko data showed the total crypto market value holding just above $3 trillion, essentially unchanged on the day. The rest of the 12 largest coins were moving in much the same way: Solana gained 1.4%, XRP rose 1.07%, BNB slipped 0.41%, and Tron fell 0.22%.
Most established coins were flat. Privacy coins were the exception.
Zcash, one of the best-known privacy coins, was up 3% on the day after pulling back from a recent peak near $1,600. Monero gained 2.14% over the last 24 hours to $562.32, putting both tokens among the strongest performers of the session.
The daily charts separated the two moves. On Binance, Zcash had risen 2.62% since the daily candle opened, which suggested the move was still in progress. Monero, by contrast, was extending a spike that began the previous day and continued through the last 24 hours.
Why the broader market stayed flat
The article linked the quiet tape to shifting expectations around U.S. monetary policy. The Federal Reserve raised rates to 3.75%-4.00% on Sept. 16, its first increase since July 2023.
Then came the September jobs report. It showed 29,000 new jobs, far below the 84,000 economists had expected, while unemployment edged up to 4.2%.
According to CME FedWatch, that weak report pushed the odds of another rate hike in October down to about 22% immediately afterward. Decrypt wrote that the rising chance of no further increase was supportive for risk assets, while the September hike had already tightened conditions. Those two forces offset each other, leaving the market largely flat.
Bitcoin still shows bullish momentum
Even with the broader market stalled, Bitcoin was described as still carrying bullish momentum. The article said Bitcoin flashed a second golden cross the day before, with its 100-day exponential moving average crossing above the 200-day EMA.
At the same time, Bitcoin remained below resistance at $87,354. The piece added that even prolonged bull runs need room to pause.
Zcash rebound does not equal a reversal
Decrypt included a clear caution on Zcash: one green day does not amount to a trend reversal. ZEC was still about 19% below its late-September high of $1,698, and one day of buying had not erased that gap.
On Oct. 1, Zcash fell to an intraday low of $1,333.50 as Grayscale’s Zcash ETF recorded $30.25 million in outflows. Even after that withdrawal, the fund had still brought in about $268 million in net inflows since launching on Aug. 25.
On a wider view, the article treated Zcash as a story of its own. The coin had gained about 2,500% over the previous 12 months and, in Decrypt’s framing, had not yet shown signs of a serious trend reversal.
The latest leg higher was a 253% rally from a $480.72 base to the late-September high of $1,698. That move coincided with two events: the launch of Grayscale’s Zcash ETF on Aug. 25, and a Sept. 17 vote in which 98.9% of coinholders backed keeping Bitcoin-style halvings in place to keep inflation in check.
The article also argued that a cooldown would not be unusual for Zcash. Earlier this year, the token dropped 38% when the Ironwood counterfeiting scare hit, then recovered to trade back above $1,600. Against that backdrop, the current slide of about 19% from the September peak was described as relatively mild.
Monero remains in consolidation too
Monero was presented in a similar position. XMR was trading about 11% below its September high of $632.86. Its market capitalization stood at $10.57 billion, less than half of Zcash’s $23.18 billion.
Based on the daily charts, the article said both privacy coins were still in consolidation rather than breakout mode.
For Zcash, the daily chart showed price at $1,372.69, just below resistance at $1,403.89. That level was measured from the $451.75 low to the $1,698 high. The day’s high at $1,385 had not reached it, while the 38.2% retracement level at $1,221.93 sat below as the next marker.
A faster indicator gave a different reading on Monero. Decrypt said XMR was deep in overbought territory, though its movement had been more constrained and mostly sideways since late September.
Levels to watch
The near-term levels highlighted in the article were straightforward:
- Bitcoin needs to clear $87,354.
- Zcash faces overhead resistance at $1,403.89.
- Monero needs to keep holding above $558.69.
The article also noted that the views expressed by the author were for informational purposes only and did not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
