Zcash Tops $1,600 After Europe’s First ZEC ETP Debuts

Zcash (ZEC) climbed above $1,600 for the first time since 2016 after 21Shares launched Europe’s first Zcash exchange-traded product (ETP) on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam.

The rally coincides with the privacy coin expanding access through traditional investment markets, while heady short liquidations and leveraged trading add another layer to the price action.

21Shares Launches Europe’s First Zcash ETP

CoinGecko reported the price milestone on September 23, with ZEC trading around $1,600 after reaching an intraday high of approximately $1,643. The listing gives investors another way to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without holding ZEC directly.

The physically backed product trades on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam. Investors can buy it through traditional brokerage accounts, avoiding the need to manage crypto wallets or take direct custody of the tokens. Its annual management fee is 2.5%.

21Shares also launched a physically backed ETP tracking ETHFI, the governance and utility token of the Ether.fi decentralized finance protocol. That product carries the same 2.5% annual fee as its ZEC counterpart.

The European listing follows Grayscale’s launch of its spot Zcash ETF, which trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH. Together, the products give investors in the United States and Europe regulated investment vehicles tied to ZEC.

The price move has also caught the attention of leveraged traders, with Lookonchain reporting that a trader identified as 0xE34E opened a 50x long position on 140 ZEC, worth around $224,000. With the token breaking above $1,600, the position showed an unrealized profit of approximately $70,700, representing a reported return of 1,581%.

ZEC Outpaces the Broader Crypto Market

CoinGecko’s latest figures put ZEC just slightly above $1,600, up more than 10% over 24 hours, 43% in seven days, and over 91% across 30 days. Its one-year gain stands at 3,266%. The weekly performance comfortably exceeds the broader crypto market’s 14.1% increase in the same period.

Trading activity has also picked up. ZEC recorded around $1.77 billion in 24-hour volume, a 61.1% increase from the previous day, with its price moving between roughly $1,456 and $1,643 during that period.

ZEC cleared $1,500 last week after climbing 190% in a month, and analysts at the time did not agree on what would happen next. One of them, Ali Martinez, wrote that “momentum remains strong” and pointed to $1,800 as his next target, a call he first made in late August when the asset was trading near $820.

Picolas Cage, another trader on X, predicted Zcash could eventually reach $14,000, arguing that investors have not properly placed where the token sits in the current market cycle.

But others have leaned bearish, including Crypto with Haris ₿, who opened a $100,000 short earlier this month, insisting that the rally had relied heavily on short liquidations rather than new buying and that most of the bullish catalysts were already priced in by the time ZEC passed $1,500.

Interestingly, data from CoinGlass shows Zcash’s jump past $1,600 caused about $21.62 million in liquidations in 24 hours, with $19.39 million of that hitting short positions.