Zcash Surges Past $800 as ETF Listing Looms

Zcash has been on a tear since July, and it's not hard to see why. The asset has cleared the $800 barrier for the first time since January 2018 and is now trading at $821.79, up roughly 75% from its starting price of $469.57.

The reasons behind this surge are specific rather than mystical. One key factor is the upcoming listing of Grayscale's Zcash Trust as a spot exchange-traded product on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH. This will give institutional investors access to Zcash, which has traditionally been shunned by regulated venues.

Another reason for the price increase is the comparison between Zcash and Bitcoin. The two assets share similarities in their architecture, including a 21 million supply cap and proof-of-work mining. However, Zcash's addition of shielded transactions gives it an edge over Bitcoin, which has led to a reevaluation of their relative prices.

But there's also a more nuanced reason for the price surge: leverage. Futures volume has been running at roughly $9.5 billion against just over $1 billion in spot trading, indicating that the market is being driven by derivatives desks rather than retail investors.