Zcash Jumps 100% in a Month as Co-Founder Repeats $5,000 Long-Term Call

Zcash (ZEC) has doubled over the past month, putting privacy-focused cryptocurrencies back on traders' radar as one of the project's co-founders again circulated a long-range $5,000 price target. Crypto.news flagged the roughly 100% monthly gain and linked the timing to renewed attention around the co-founder's reiterated forecast. Brave New Coin also cited the same $5,000 figure, characterizing it as a projection associated with 2026. Neither outlet provided detailed assumptions or a specific valuation framework behind the call. Launched in 2016, Zcash was among the first major cryptocurrencies to offer optional shielded transactions. By using zero-knowledge proofs, it can obscure the sender, recipient and amount, in contrast with Bitcoin and many early altcoins that record transaction data on fully public ledgers. Privacy coins have long remained a niche segment, periodically attracting interest from users concerned about financial surveillance while facing regulatory scrutiny tied to illicit-finance risks. Some exchanges have delisted privacy coins in certain jurisdictions in recent years due to compliance pressure, making sustained rallies in the category less common. A 100% move in a month is notable even in a volatile market. In smaller-cap, older tokens, sharp advances often track a revived narrative more than a single identifiable catalyst. ZEC's jump coincides with the co-founder's public repetition of the $5,000 target, a headline that appears to have helped amplify attention despite limited detail on the rationale. ZEC has traded far below $5,000 for most of its history, and prior privacy-coin cycles have featured steep rallies followed by prolonged drawdowns. Readers should view any long-horizon price target, including one voiced by a project co-founder, as opinion rather than an assured outcome. Market impact A rally of this scale could pull incremental trading volume and speculative flows toward privacy-oriented tokens in the near term. Follow-through will be closely watched, as large percentage moves can quickly draw both momentum buying and profit-taking. Renewed attention may also reignite discussion around exchange listings and regulatory treatment of privacy-enhancing crypto technology. For now, the available facts are straightforward: crypto.news reported a roughly 100% rise over a month, and both crypto.news and Brave New Coin referenced a co-founder's repeated $5,000 target, with Brave New Coin linking it to 2026. Source: Originally reported by AltcoinGordon, written by Liam Carter. Republished with permission.