ZEC在逼空行情后逼近1400美元区间

ZCash (ZEC) is driven by strong heat and short squeeze, and its price approaches US$1,400.

In the past 24 hours, thanks to strong market heat and short squeeze effect, the price of ZCash (ZEC) has risen sharply, once approaching the US$1,400 range. ZEC has maintained a strong upward trend over the past few months amid widespread expectations that it will climb into a higher price range. Currently, ZEC continues to maintain its gains, hitting a local high of US$1,385.07. Subsequently, ZEC successfully stood above US$1,350, and the market was increasingly expected to further explore new price ranges.

For the first time since its launch in 2017, ZEC has entered the four-digit price range, with a year-to-date increase of 166%. In the short term, this surge in ZEC triggered a large-scale wave of short liquidations, with a total liquidation of US$56.35 million in the past 24 hours. The short squeeze effect continues to ferment in the range close to $1,400, and there is still sufficient liquidity near $1,440. At the same time, ZEC's trading volume also hit a new high since the beginning of the year, reaching US$2.59 billion.

In the past month, as the popularity of privacy narratives heats up and growth opportunities attract, more funds have poured into the ZEC market and trading activity has accelerated significantly. As relevant reports have pointed out, in response to rising prices, the activities of ZEC miners are also accelerating. In addition, the recent rise of "reflection tokens" has also brought additional demand to ZEC, especially the meme token ZCAT on the StonksFun platform. Driven by the rise in ZEC, ZCAT surged 37% to $0.13.

Rise in ZEC leads to close positions in whale accounts

The recent rise in ZEC has triggered a series of short liquidations against retail and whale accounts. The price surge successfully penetrated the positions of high-profile traders trying to short ZEC.

ZEC was one of the main targets of short liquidations in the past 24 hours, with a large number of newly established bear positions liquidated due to failed bets on the rally. | Source: Coinglass

Similar to previous ZEC rallies, when prices hit record highs, they are often accompanied by risk bets on sudden reversals. However, this sudden price surge has not yet cleared trader Garrett Jin's position, making it the largest short attempt in the chain. As of September 17, the position still bore unrealized losses of US$26 million and earned US$645,000 in funding rate income. Since the strong flat price of this position is relatively high at US$2,631.55, Jin still has room to close its position in the current rising market.

Another high-profile whale account encountered a short position being liquidated and instead established a long ZEC position. On the Hyperliquid platform, only about 30% of traders are currently short ZEC, and nearly 70% of traders choose to go long. Most short positions, while carrying large unrealized losses, are receiving positive funding rate gains.

ZEC's Open Interest has risen to a three-year high of $2.14 billion. On centralized exchanges, the ratio of long and short positions has reversed, with nearly 70% of traders short. The expansion of derivatives trading may make ZEC's price volatility more intense, leading to frequent regular attacks on long or short positions. As of September, ZEC's open interest value on the Hyperliquid platform was US$845 million, ranking first; Binance ranked second with open interest value of US$790 million.

Can ZEC challenge Bitcoin (BTC)?

The current market narrative holds that once ZEC breaks through into the four-digit price range, it could rise to thousands of dollars, challenging Bitcoin (BTC). This bullish view is also supported by several well-known opinion leaders, who believe that ZEC is expected to replicate Bitcoin's growth path.

One of the factors driving ZEC's short-term rise is the recent vote on shortening block time, which will speed up block removal and adjust the halving schedule. In the past year, driven by professional miners, ZCash's computing power has improved four times. This more feasible mining operation shows the market's confidence in the long-term upward trend.

However, in the short term, ZEC's trend will be mainly driven by derivatives trading and games between long and short sides. Until recently, ZEC was largely driven by spot demand, and traders needed to adapt to a new market environment that targeted liquidity in the derivatives market.