Zcash Drops 6% as Monero Surges 11% on Mystery $23M Buy
Zcash (ZEC) fell over 6% in 24 hours to $520.05 as traders took profits after a 56% monthly rally. The token had peaked above $640 earlier in May, its highest since 2017, driven by a SEC probe closure, Multicoin Capital disclosure, and Grayscale’s spot ETF filing. About 30% of ZEC supply is in shielded pools, tightening float. Meanwhile, Monero (XMR) rose 11% to $396.75 after an unexplained $23 million on-chain purchase via Wagyu OTC, following a $29.3M USDC withdrawal from Coinbase. The source of funds is unconfirmed, with speculation of hacked or phished wallets. This divergence rekindles the debate between Zcash's opt-in privacy and Monero's default privacy. XMR's market cap is $7.43B vs ZEC's $8.67B, ranking 18 and 16 on CoinGecko respectively.
Key facts
- ZEC fell 6% to $520 after touching $640 highs earlier in May.
- ZEC rally driven by SEC probe closure, Multicoin, and Grayscale ETF filing.
- XMR rose 11% to $396.75 after $23M unexplained on-chain purchase.
- Funds originated from $29.3M USDC withdrawal from Coinbase; source unconfirmed.
- Debate reopens over Zcash opt-in privacy vs Monero default privacy.