Privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) staged a massive breakout on May 6, 2026, surging more than 40% to briefly touch $600 and propel its market capitalization to approximately $10 billion. This milestone temporarily flipped Monero (XMR), making ZEC the largest privacy cryptocurrency by market cap.
Market Mechanics and Liquidations
According to market data, ZEC first spiked on the evening of May 5, jumping from $430 to $520 in roughly two hours. After consolidating around $541 for the rest of the day, a second wave early Wednesday pushed the asset to the $600 peak. The rapid ascent triggered nearly $44 million in short liquidations within 12 hours, with the 24-hour liquidation total reaching roughly $59 million.
Institutional and Celebrity Endorsements
The rally follows a string of high-profile endorsements. Macro investor Raoul Pal had previously labeled Zcash a “Bitcoin sibling,” while Grayscale Chairman Barry Silbert suggested ZEC could mirror Bitcoin’s historic 2017 bull run. More concretely, crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital revealed it had built a significant ZEC position. Co-founder Tushar Jain explained that a proposed wealth confiscation bill in California highlighted the need for truly private, seizure-resistant assets, and that “ZEC is the cleanest way to express this thesis in public markets.”
The listing of ZEC on retail trading platform Robinhood, which grants access to millions of retail investors, is also cited as a key catalyst for the surge.
Critics Warn of Overextension and Dark Pool Risks
However, some analysts caution that ZEC’s parabolic move may be “overextended” and driven more by speculative fever than on-chain utility. They also note that while the proportion of ZEC in shielded addresses hit an all-time high of over 31%, this could increase the risk of “dark pool” manipulation, where large whale movements remain hidden, potentially causing liquidity crunches on transparent exchanges.
With weekly gains approaching 80%, ZEC has significantly outperformed the broader crypto market. If momentum continues, the privacy coin could challenge its 2025 peak of just above $740.