The price of Zcash (ZEC) hit as high as $1,249.28 on Sep. 6, its highest point since October 2016.

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that relies on zero-knowledge proofs to enable fully encrypted transactions while maintaining transparency and security.

Related: Bitcoin sees fourth-highest daily transaction count in history

The trigger for the latest ZEC rally is Grayscale converting its Zcash Trust into a publicly listed exchange-traded product (NYSE Arca: ZCSH) on Aug. 25.

Though not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, ZCSH is the first and only U.S.-listed exchange-traded product dedicated solely to ZEC.

Following ZCSH’s public listing, ZEC surged from around $800 on Aug. 25 to just under $1,250 on Sep. 6. It means the cryptocurrency surged more than 55% in nearly two weeks.

Advocates of the Zcash ecosystem such as Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss and ex-Coinbase Global CTO Balaji Srinivasan cheered the latest rally.

The cryptocurrency hit its all-time high (ATH) of $3,191.93 on Oct. 28, 2016, around its launch. It is currently trading at $1,159.37, much lower than the peak despite a recent surge.

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Crypto traders betting on ZEC’s price to continue falling had a rude shock as the privacy-focused cryptocurrency began rallying over the last few days.

As per the onchain analytics platform Lookonchain, Garrett Jin holds the largest on-chain ZEC short position. He recently added 7,000 coins worth $8.4 million to his short position despite the price surge.

At the time of writing, Jin holds a short ZEC position worth $45.58 million and is sitting on an unrealized loss of $22.60 million.

As per Lookonchain, a crypto trader with an excellent track record of 26 wins in a row recently shorted ZEC worth $18.95 million despite the price surge.

At the time of writing, they were sitting on an unrealized loss of $4.44 million.

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This story was originally published by TheStreet on Sep 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.