Vision

Zcash

Real

The recent surge in privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash may be driven more by capital rotation than a sustained structural bull trend, said Real Vision founder and macro investor Raoul Pal.
“Do I need that asset to say I was in earliest? I don’t really,” Pal told Kevin Follonier on the “When Shift Happens” podcast <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15uDEi5_Jg&amp;t=2344s" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">published</a> on Thursday.
The privacy-focused token Zcash (<a href="/zec-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer">ZEC</a>) has seen significant gains this year, but Pal said it is still too early to say whether its rally represents the beginning of a broader uptrend.&nbsp;
“We can’t prove it until the whole market goes up and it continues to trend and not a rotation,” he said. “Right now it’s confirming the rotation thesis.”
<h2 id="zcash-will-need-to-find-a-base-first">Zcash will need to find “a base” first</h2>
Zcash is trading at $385.81, up 699.07% since Jan. 1, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/zcash/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">according</a> to CoinMarketCap. However, momentum has slowed down in recent weeks. Over the past 30 days, the token’s price has declined by approximately 37%.
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b34b4-c2b6-758c-b349-30306a32c1b6.png" title="" alt="Raoul Pal says capital rotation could be fueling Zcash boom">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Raoul Pal spoke to Kevin Follonier on the When Shift Happens podcast on Thursday. Source: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15uDEi5_Jg&amp;t=2344s" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Pal said the primary signal to watch will be whether Zcash can establish a strong floor price after its recent run-up. “What you want to see is whether it finds a base and then starts pulling up again,” he said. Over the past 30 days, Zcash’s price has declined by around 37%.
Pal said he is not eager to buy the crypto asset at current levels. “I’m not sure I’m going to chase it, but I might buy it in the next down cycle,” Pal said.
Zcash was posting price gains despite the broader crypto market being in decline. Its market capitalization rose from under $1 billion in August to a peak above $7 billion in early November.&nbsp;
Zcash saw a massive surge after Arthur Hayes’ tip
A growing number of crypto market participants have been prioritizing anonymity in recent times, which has pushed privacy tokens into the spotlight, crypto exchange XT Exchange <a href="https://medium.com/@XT_com/privacy-focused-cryptocurrencies-prices-surge-a-deep-dive-into-the-market-and-trends-86ea244fde7e" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">said</a> on Nov. 9.
<h2 id="zcash-institutional-interest-has-increased-in-recent-times">Zcash institutional interest has increased in recent times</h2>
Just a month earlier, on Oct. 26, Zcash rose 30% in 24 hours after crypto <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/zcash-surges-arthur-hayes-prediction" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">entrepreneur Arthur Hayes</a> predicted the token could eventually reach $10,000.&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-quantum-computing-risk-investor-concerns" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Anxiety of quantum risk to Bitcoin is weighing on its price: Execs</a>
Meanwhile, institutional interest in the crypto asset has also increased.
On Nov. 27, Grayscale <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/grayscale-sec-zcash-etf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Investments submitted a filing</a> to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, signaling its intention to convert its fund tied to Zcash into a spot ETF.&nbsp;
The move followed Grayscale’s launch of other spot ETFs linked to cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (<a href="/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer">BTC</a>), Ether (<a href="/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer">ETH</a>), Dogecoin (<a href="/doge-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer">DOGE</a>) and XRP (<a href="/xrp-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer">XRP</a>).
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/big-questions-will-bitcoin-survive-10-year-power-outage/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Big questions: Would Bitcoin survive a 10-year power outage?</a>

Raoul Pal says capital rotation could be fueling Zcash boom

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Dec 19, 2025

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!