Zcash, or ZEC as it’s higher recognized, surpassed meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB) and one other privateness undertaking Monero (XMR) in market capitalization, rising its whole worth to $6.22 billion (about $382 per coin) after surging 14.8% in 24 hours.
This alteration in cryptocurrency rankings places ZEC at quantity 21 on the earth, slightly below Litecoin’s market capitalization of $7.29 billion at a value of $95 per LTC. Principally, if Zcash has one other good day, the rankings might flip once more and ZEC might rise to the highest 20. That is in all probability the primary time in historical past.
In fact, this rally didn’t occur in isolation. A big a part of the spectacular 800% improve prior to now month might be attributed to figures like Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz and Naval Ravikant, who’re displaying renewed curiosity in privateness cash that many dismissed as “dinosaur” cash.
Furthering his Zcash expertise, Mumtaz immediately confirmed that ZEC’s gentle consumer integration will happen following the deployment of SIMD-0388. This method improve permits BLS12-381 elliptic curve system calls.
Solana + Zcash = ?
Merely put, when this replace goes stay, builders will be capable of construct “gentle shoppers,” or light-weight connectors that enable Solana to learn and validate Zcash knowledge with out working a full Zcash node. This implies the Solana app can immediately verify Zcash transactions, paving the way in which for cross-chain privateness instruments and swaps between Solana and Zcash.
Apparently, Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko additionally publicly celebrated this overtake.
Add zec gentle consumer to solami after this simd https://t.co/x4gsHidf9b.
— As a result of | helius.dev (@0xMert_) October 31, 2025
Inside the Zcash neighborhood, the milestone of surpassing SHIB and XMR was seen as a long-awaited victory. Sean Bowe, one of many undertaking’s early engineers, mentioned the undertaking was “years within the making.”
Merchants added gas to the fireplace by mentioning that ZEC’s forex float had fallen considerably since mid-year, making the worth delicate to new demand.
Whether or not this can be a short-term change or the start of a everlasting change, Zcash has made a comeback. Presently, the distinction between Monero and Litecoin is lower than $200 million, and Litecoin is just $1 billion behind.
If the present momentum continues into the following buying and selling cycle, the following reshuffle within the high 20 could possibly be led by privateness cash.
