Galaxy Digital releases a groundbreaking report on Zcash: the 800% surge in a month may just be the tip of the iceberg for a major shift towards privacy. The analysis uncovers structural changes that could redefine ZEC's market position. From technical adoption to institutional liquidity and privacy economics, discover why the token's trajectory might astonish.
The report published on November 4, 2025, by Galaxy Digital raises a burning question: how did Zcash multiply its value eightfold in the space of a month? The answer isn’t random chance or market coordination. But a convergence of technical and structural factors that the industry had previously underestimated.
The Zashi wallet from Electric Coin Company, launched in 2024 and refined this year, represents the game-changer the market had been waiting for. The integration of NEAR’s intent layer radically transforms the user experience. In practical terms, a trader can now express a simple intention — “exchange X ETH for ZEC and send it to address Y” — without manually managing bridges or juggling between multiple applications. Autonomous executors handle the orchestration of liquidity and settlement of cross-chain transactions. Enabling inflows and outflows from shielded pools with minimal on-chain footprint.
This technical evolution is accompanied by an unprecedented phenomenon in Zcash’s history: more than 30% of the total supply now resides in shielded pools, with approximately 4.9 million ZEC locked in the Orchard pool. The transparent supply has dropped by nearly 3 million ZEC this year, falling from 14 million to 11.4 million. This massive redistribution mechanically strengthens the protocol’s fundamental property: the larger the pool, the more difficult it becomes to trace individual flows.
The listing of ZEC perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid a few weeks before Galaxy’s report marks, according to the analysis, “the clearest sign that Zcash is back.” This addition to the trading infrastructure offers leverage to professional traders and considerably expands available liquidity. As of October 30, open interest reached $115 million, a level that can amplify volatility in both directions.
This market dynamic is part of a broader cultural context that Galaxy identifies as a “rotation towards privacy.” The debate pits two camps against each other: those who defend privacy as a fundamental right and those who prioritize transparency to meet regulatory requirements. The report reminds us that Satoshi Nakamoto himself acknowledged the privacy limitations of Bitcoin. An argument that Zcash proponents use to justify the existence of an alternative focused on privacy by design.
Galaxy doesn’t ignore the structural risks. The network counts between 100 and 120 full nodes, a modest figure compared to Bitcoin’s tens of thousands or Monero’s thousands. This weakness is explained by technical complexity. Verifying shielded transactions consumes more resources, the multi-pool architecture adds friction, and frequent protocol updates demand constant vigilance from operators.
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The technical roadmap precisely targets these limitations. Galaxy mentions Sean Bowe’s Tachyon Project, an ambitious overhaul of network performance and synchronization without introducing a new shielded protocol. The objective: drastically improve operational efficiency, an approach the analyst compares to Firedancer at Solana.
The report offers no price target but structures the bullish bias around three key variables: continued growth in adoption of NEAR intents, sustained increase in shielded supply, and tangible improvements to network infrastructure. If these three conditions materialize, anonymity mechanically deepens, strengthening Zcash’s value proposition.
The protocol’s native view keys allow selective disclosure for audits and compliance, a feature that Galaxy presents as a bridge between maximum privacy and institutional compatibility. This flexibility could prove decisive if regulators toughen their approach to privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
Galaxy’s conclusion remains deliberately cautious: the rise has already forced the market to reassess privacy as a first-class asset, repositioning Zcash at the forefront after years of invisibility. The sustainability of the momentum will depend less on narrative and more on the actual use of features, the evolution of shielded supply, and the continuous improvement of operational footprint. At the time of writing, ZEC is trading at $516.
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Charles Ledoux is a Bitcoin and blockchain technology specialist. A graduate of the Crypto Academy, he has been a Bitcoin miner for over a year. He has written numerous masterclasses to educate newcomers to the industry and has authored over 2,000 articles on cryptocurrency. Now, he aims to share his passion for crypto through his articles for InvestX.
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