Hyperliquid

bullish

ZachXBT

ZCash (ZEC) was one of the few major assets to extend its growth, despite the recent crypto market weakness. ZEC held above $1,200, while BTC dipped below the $80,000 level.&nbsp;
ZEC traded at $1,241.59, gaining around 2% over the past day, while the rest of the market took a downturn. Trading volumes showed concentrated activity, pushing to a one-week high of $789.16M. Most of the ZEC activity was concentrated on Binance and OKX, some of the key sources of liquidity.&nbsp;
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/ZECPriceOct272026.png" alt="Why is ZEC going against the market? Short selling may be the reason " width="1408" height="709">
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 ZEC remained in the green despite the overall setback for the crypto market. | Source: <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/zcash?chart=type%3Dprice%26mode%3Dline%26timeframe%3Dd7" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coingecko</a>
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ZEC has entered another cycle with expectations of a price drop. <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/zcash-price-prediction/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ZEC</a> already slid from the $1,600 range for the past month, but the recent price action suggested the price is still unpredictable in the short term and may cause liquidations.&nbsp;
ZEC open interest remains elevated, at over $1.5B. In the past month, the influence of futures trading accelerated for ZEC, becoming responsible for some of the recent price moves. As a result, ZEC rallied beyond the initial hype, which was fueled by spot buying.&nbsp;
Open interest gained around 4% in the past day, as more whales took directional positions, including shorting the coin.&nbsp;
<h3 id="span-style-font-weight-400-zec-supported-by-another-short-squeeze-span">ZEC supported by another short squeeze</h3>
Short open interest for ZEC stands at around 48%, while funding rates are still positive. Overall, ZEC shows a prevalence of long positions, and certain whales have moved in with aggressive shorting.&nbsp;
On-chain data shows a total of <a href="https://x.com/pumpglas/status/2114959769949642998" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">532</a> whales are holding short positions on ZEC, up from 500 whales just a day ago. Positions data also shows only 15% of whales hold long positions on ZEC as a whole, while crowd money is 50% long.&nbsp;
While the recent price move may be partially a short squeeze, ZEC is currently balanced in a tight range. Both long and short positions are within a thin margin of the market price, potentially triggering more liquidations in either direction.&nbsp;
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/ZECLiquidationMapOct272026.png" alt="Why is ZEC going against the market? Short selling may be the reason " width="1528" height="763">
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 ZEC trades in a tight range, as both short and long positions are extremely close to the current moves of the market price. | Source: <a href="https://www.coinglass.com/pro/futures/LiquidationHeatMap?coin=ZEC&amp;type=symbol" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coinglass</a>
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Additionally, ZEC may be threatened by a $4M sell wall at $1,232, causing a wave of long liquidations.&nbsp;
ZEC perpetual futures trading has expanded significantly on Hyperliquid, which now surpasses Binance in open interest. On Hyperliquid, whales have taken the opposite stance, with over 74% holding long positions. The leading whale positions are still short, with the top whale holding a $65M in value and $5M in unrealized profit.&nbsp;
At the same time, ZEC traders may attack those whales in an attempt to liquidate their large positions before they close them. Currently, Hyperliquid whales also receive significant funding fees for holding positions on the short side.&nbsp;
<h3 id="span-style-font-weight-400-zec-shielding-recovers-in-new-pool-span">ZEC shielding recovers in new pool</h3>
The ZEC shielding issue is getting resolved, as the compromised <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/mystery-whale-millions-zcashs-privacy-pool/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Orchard pool </a>was emptied out.&nbsp;
Over 4.98M ZEC are shielded, with around 4.7M moved to the new <a href="https://zechub.wiki/dashboard" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ironwood pool</a>, which has resolved the potential unlimited minting bug.&nbsp;
ZEC shielding may be a bullish factor, though it still raises concerns for being a mechanism to disguise funds from previous hacks. On-chain investigator ZachXBT has traced a potential 2.7K ZEC into the Ironwood pool, which has been linked to the <a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/bitget-laundering-near-intents-chainflip/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitget hack</a> from September 2026.&nbsp;
Shielding takes ZEC off the market, but may not be the scarcity signal for traders. As ZEC activity shifts to perpetual futures markets, speculative positions may be more influential than spot ownership and more closely watched for signs of a breakout. 
The bullish narrative for ZEC still exists, expecting the price to move to a higher range over a longer time frame.
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ZCash defies recent crypto market weakness, extends price growth

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