Zcash hits $686, triggers $28.3M in liquidations

Zcash (ZEC) climbed to $686 on May 20, gaining more than 17% in roughly six hours and lifting its market capitalization above $11 billion. The token later traded above $660 as of 3:18 a.m. EST on May 21.

ZEC moved from about $568 to an intraday peak of $686 in just over six hours and finished the 24-hour period up more than 17%. The rally pushed the token’s monthly gains past 90% and its weekly advance to just over 25%. ZEC began the month with a market value below $6 billion and reached above $11 billion during the rally.

Data show the price surge triggered about $28.25 million in liquidations of leveraged positions over 24 hours. Short positions accounted for nearly $26.5 million of those liquidations, and the largest single recorded liquidation was about $2.68 million. Exchange and derivatives data point to concentrated short exposure and limited liquidity as factors behind the size of the forced unwind.

Some investors and advocates cited renewed interest in financial privacy and the token’s technical features as reasons for the rally. Since early May, several public endorsements and conversations about privacy-focused digital cash have increased attention on ZEC. During the surge ZEC’s market value briefly exceeded that of Monero, which stood near $7.3 billion at the time of reporting.

To enter the top 10 digital assets by market capitalization, ZEC would need to trade above roughly $1,000 to overtake Dogecoin’s market value, near $16.25 billion. ZEC last traded above $1,000 in late 2016.

Critic Ted Pillows wrote on X that the price jump appeared to be a coordinated squeeze rather than broad adoption, adding: ‘Zcash hasn’t suddenly solved adoption, liquidity, or regulatory headwinds overnight. Low float + thin liquidity + aggressive perp positioning = violent upside candles.’

Market structure on exchanges, including a limited circulating supply available for trading and concentrated derivative positions, can produce larger price swings when large orders hit the market. Traders with leveraged short bets were the most affected in the liquidation events.

Market participants said they will monitor trading volumes, crypto liquidity, exchange flows and derivative positions in the coming days to assess whether the price momentum persists, eases or reverses as positions unwind.