Zcash's "Privacy Surge" Is Just Rich Guys Playing Games
Okay, so another crypto is supposedly "surging." Zcash, this time. Fifteen times its value since September? Give me a break. It's always the same story, ain't it?
The Usual Suspects
Cypherpunk Technologies—love that name, so edgy—just threw another $18 million into ZEC. Which, fine, whatever. But let's be real: this is just Winklevoss 2.0, except instead of hoarding Bitcoin, they're pumping a privacy coin. They’re calling it a “digital asset strategy”. I call it market manipulation with extra steps.
And before you start thinking this is some grassroots movement for privacy, Galaxy Digital Research Analyst Will Owens calls it "encrypted Bitcoin, a return to cypherpunk principles." Encrypted Bitcoin? Please. It's just Bitcoin for people who want to hide their bags from the IRS.
What's driving the surge? Concerns about Bitcoin's mainstream profile? Please. It's about making a quick buck before the music stops. And offcourse, someone will be left holding the bag.
The Privacy Paradox
Here's the thing about Zcash: it's supposed to be a privacy coin. But how much privacy are we really talking about?
Zcash uses "shielded" transactions to hide the details. But here's the kicker: only the transparent side of the network can be observed directly. So, yeah, you can hide your transactions, but that just makes it harder to tell if anyone is actually using the damn thing.
They say shielded supply has climbed, blah blah blah. Okay, great. But if nobody can see it, does it even matter? It’s like saying “trust me bro, there's a party going on in this soundproof room”.
And if people really cared about privacy, wouldn't Monero be mooning too? But no, Monero's just chugging along like always. Which suggests this isn't some grand shift towards privacy, but a Zcash-specific pump.
Are we supposed to believe that Zcash is the only crypto that cares about privacy?
The Supply Squeeze Mirage
The article mentions that "roughly 30% of the supply now sitting in shielded addresses... the resulting supply squeeze is making the price move faster than the visible network can explain." Oh, a supply squeeze! That's the ticket! Why Is ZEC Surging? This Metric May Explain It
But wait a minute... If nobody can see those shielded addresses, how do we know they're not just sitting in some whale's wallet, waiting to be dumped on the market the second the price hits a certain point?
The only conspicuous surge in visible throughput came from Zerdinals, an inscription wave that temporarily pushed daily transactions above 70,000. But it was driven by a small cluster of repeat actors rather than broad growth in new users. So, yeah, nothing to see here.
Honestly, it's all just smoke and mirrors. They create artificial scarcity, pump the price, and then try to convince us it's because of "privacy."
Then again, maybe I'm just being cynical. Maybe Zcash really is the future of privacy. But color me skeptical.
So, What's the Real Story?
It's rich guys playing games, plain and simple. Don't fall for the hype.
