Zcash came under pressure on Thursday, with ZEC trading at $1,333.50, down 7.29% on the day with roughly three hours left before the daily candle close.
At that level, the privacy coin was about 21% below its late-September peak of $1,698.00. The pullback followed an aggressive run higher: ZEC had rallied roughly 253% from $480.72 before reaching that top.
ETF flows and macro conditions added pressure
The broader market did not offer much relief. Bitcoin climbed to $85,600 on Wednesday after U.S. PCE inflation data came in below expectations, then quickly gave back those gains. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield closed at 5.29%, while CME FedWatch data showed the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October falling from 70% to below 50%.
On the fund side, Grayscale launched its Zcash ETF, ticker ZCSH, on Aug. 25. By mid-September, the product had attracted $233 million in net inflows.
That changed on the latest trading day, when the fund posted $30.25 million in net outflows. Its cumulative net inflows fell to nearly $268 million. A 3-for-1 share split also took effect that same morning.
Bitget hack remains part of the market conversation
Another factor in focus was the aftermath of the Bitget hack, particularly its effect on sentiment. On Sept. 24, a group of hackers stole about $387 million from the exchange, above the initial estimate of $351.6 million, after additional transfers were identified on the Zcash and Tron blockchains.
Bitget’s chief executive said the attack matched traits associated with North Korean hacker groups, though a definitive attribution is still under investigation.
For a crypto sector trying to build credibility on Wall Street, that is unwelcome news. On Wednesday, blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged 2,746 ZEC, worth about $3.9 million, moving from addresses linked to the hack into Zcash’s privacy pool, where the sender, receiver, and amount are concealed.
The report said the hack was unlikely to be the direct trigger for Thursday’s sell-off, and noted that $3.9 million was limited in size relative to the broader market move. Still, it did little to improve sentiment.
Technical indicators have cooled, but the structure is still intact
From a chart perspective, Zcash remains in a broadly bullish structure, even as price action over the past five days points to a sizable correction.
The relative strength index, or RSI, is a momentum gauge that runs from 0 to 100. It currently reads 50.2, a neutral level that suggests ZEC is neither overstretched to the upside nor deeply oversold. That marks a clear cooldown from the persistent overbought readings seen during the earlier surge.
The average directional index, or ADX, stands at 52.0. ADX measures trend strength rather than direction, and readings above 25 are usually taken as evidence of a real trend. A reading at 52 is still very strong, though the report said it mostly reflects the previous vertical move higher. Because ADX is a lagging indicator, it can remain elevated even as price retreats.
As for exponential moving averages, the 50-day EMA remains above the 200-day EMA, leaving the trend structure bullish on paper. If the decline continues, those lines would begin to converge, often an early sign of a shift in trend. The report argued that such a setup would require a sustained and rapid sell-off, which it described as unlikely in the near term.
Key levels are now in focus
A 21% pullback after a 253% rally is not unusual, the report noted. In June, ZEC fell from $635 to an intraday low of $309 after disclosure of a critical vulnerability tied to the Zcash privacy pool. It later recovered and went on to break above $1,600.
For now, the chart reads more like a correction than a collapse. Trend indicators have not turned bearish, but momentum has cooled and the ETF has just recorded a $30.25 million daily outflow.
The report highlighted two levels to watch next. A daily close below $1,233.00 would activate the so-called golden zone. A move back above $1,410.72 would indicate the rally is back on track.
The original article also said the views expressed by the author are for reference only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.