ZEC slips by 0.08% as institutional investors show interest and positive fundamentals come to light

As of NOV 21 2025,

experienced a 0.08% decline over the past 24 hours, settling at $660.48. Over the last week, ZEC fell by 6.29%, but it has surged 61.91% in the past month and soared 1064.26% over the previous year.

Institutional Optimism in

Zcash

Reaches New Heights

Cypherpunk Technologies, a digital asset treasury company supported by the Winklevoss twins, has notably expanded its Zcash portfolio by acquiring an additional $18 million in ZEC. This latest purchase brings their total holdings to 233,644 ZEC, now valued at roughly $150 million. The acquisition is part of an ongoing accumulation plan that began with a $50 million initial investment. With an average entry price of $291 per token, the firm currently enjoys paper profits exceeding 120%.

The company’s ZEC holdings now account for about 1.43% of the total circulating supply, reflecting a rising wave of institutional interest in this privacy-centric cryptocurrency. This move also underscores a broader shift, with institutions increasingly viewing ZEC as a strategic reserve asset rather than merely a speculative investment.

Despite a tough market, Zcash has shown notable resilience. While most cryptocurrencies have struggled, ZEC has bucked the trend. In just the last month, the token has climbed 140%, standing out against the negative returns seen in much of the crypto sector.

This strong performance has reignited enthusiasm for the project. Experts attribute ZEC’s momentum to several factors: greater adoption of privacy features, increased institutional buying, and a negative correlation with

. Over the last month, ZEC’s price movements have diverged from BTC, often remaining steady when Bitcoin experiences turbulence.

On-Chain Data Points to Short Squeeze Event

On November 20, ZEC’s price sharply rebounded above $680, coinciding with the forced closure of a major short position held by a prominent whale address. Blockchain analysis reveals that this address, associated with platforms like Roobet and Stake.com, underwent seven consecutive liquidations, ultimately closing out its entire position. Previously, the whale maintained a $19 million ZEC short, with unrealized profits peaking at nearly $2.4 million.

This sequence of events suggests a classic short squeeze, where intense selling is met by strong buying, triggering a rapid price reversal. The unwinding of such large positions can significantly affect both liquidity and short-term price swings.

Zcash miners are also facing increasing challenges as the network’s mining difficulty approaches all-time highs. According to recent figures from CoinWarz, ZEC’s mining difficulty has reached 154.26 M, nearing its record. Although miner profitability has seen a slight uptick thanks to modest price recovery and fluctuating hashrates, the overall rise in difficulty points to ongoing network security and higher energy requirements.

Miners are keeping a close eye on changing operational costs and energy consumption, as higher difficulty levels may squeeze out smaller participants and concentrate mining among larger, more efficient operators.

Analysts See $800–$1,000 as Next Target

Technical analysts have spotted bullish signals on ZEC’s chart, notably an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the 4-hour timeframe. Should ZEC break above the $680–$700 resistance, experts believe it could rally toward the $800–$1,000 range, based on both on-chain and technical analysis.

Several factors are cited for this optimistic outlook, including greater institutional involvement, renewed interest from retail investors, and ZEC’s independent price action compared to Bitcoin. Social sentiment data also shows ZEC’s discussion volume has grown much faster than Bitcoin’s over the past year.

Even amid recent price swings, ZEC stands out as one of the few altcoins with robust fundamentals and increasing real-world use, making it attractive to both short-term traders and long-term holders.