Zcash Surges 2,389% as $47 Million Short Faces Pressure

Zcash (ZEC) has extended its remarkable rally, putting major short sellers under mounting pressure as the privacy-focused cryptocurrency trades at levels not seen in nearly a decade.

ZEC was trading around $1,176, up 1.2% over the past 24 hours and 44.1% over the previous week. The cryptocurrency surpassed $1,000 on Friday for the first time since 2016 and reached a high of $1,254 on Sunday during a four-day advance. Zcash has now gained approximately 137% over the past month and an extraordinary 2,389% over the past year.

Despite the rally, one of the largest tracked onchain Zcash short sellers has increased his bearish position. According to Lookonchain, trader Garrett Jin added another 7,000 ZEC, worth roughly $8.4 million, even as his position accumulated more than $24 million in unrealized losses.

The additional trade brings Jin's total ZEC short position to 39,760 tokens, valued at more than $47 million. His 3x leveraged short was reportedly opened around $576, while the position carries a liquidation price of approximately $2,292.

That level is now closely watched because Zcash would need to rise about 95% from $1,176 to reach Jin's reported liquidation threshold. As long as ZEC remains below $2,292, the position can remain open, although further price gains could deepen losses. A move to the liquidation level could force the position to close if it remains unchanged.

Jin has also taken a bullish position elsewhere in the crypto market, opening a Bitcoin long around $77,089, indicating that his broader trading strategy is not exclusively bearish.

Other Zcash bears have also been caught by the sharp rally. Lookonchain reported that another trader, identified as "0x362a," shorted 15,785 ZEC worth approximately $18.95 million three days earlier and was sitting on a $5.27 million loss. The trader reportedly entered the position after recording 26 consecutive winning trades.

With Zcash continuing its steep advance, leveraged short positions remain vulnerable if bullish momentum persists.