Zcash Co-Founder Predicts $5,000 ZEC Amid Historic Europe ETP Launch

Eli Ben-Sasson, Zcash co-founder and CEO of blockchain tech company Starkware, says he “feels on track” to a $5,000 end-of-year price target for Zcash ($ZEC). His previous prediction of $ZEC trading beyond $1,200 by September 25, 2026 is now a success, as it trades at around $1,549 at the time.

While the tripling valuation forecast is ambitious, several developments show why there is a chance it just might happen.

Zcash on the road to $5,000

For one, investment firm 21Shares recently launched Europe’s first Zcash exchange-traded product (ETP). At around the same time, Grayscale’s Zcash ETF (ZCSH) officially surpassed $915 million in assets exactly a month after launch, signalling high institutional demand.

Moreover, $ZEC has rallied primarily due to its privacy architecture. As institutional uptake increases, so does the need for confidential but compliant blockchain transactions.

For these reasons, $ZEC has outperformed Bitcoin ($BTC) by 14x since the latter’s all-time high. The next best-performing altcoins after it are $HYPE, $XMR, and $NEAR, which outdid $BTC by 2-3x. According to Glassnode, this performance makes $ZEC the best of the 9 altcoins (in the top 50 by market cap) that have outperformed $BTC.

What the technical analysis shows

On the weekly chart, the real-time Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) and its moving average are both rising. This, in addition to the macro Golden Cross confirmation in early August and a positive MACD histogram, signals strong bullish acceleration.

That said, the weekly RSI has recently pushed into the overbought territory at 77.14. While still bullish, those who purchase $ZEC right now risk local pullbacks.

A similar conclusion can be drawn from the 200-week Simple Moving Average (SMA). This indicator has curved sharply upward and now hovers around $150. Comparing this with $ZEC’s current price shows entry into a full-scale bull market.

Source: TradingView

However, the colossal difference between the 200-week SMA and the digital asset’s current price shows an overextension of the macro trend.

In the near term, $ZEC is eyeing a retest near its recent high of $1,650. A break below the $1,440 support would have the way for a downtrend to $1,310.

Community take

Polymarket users have a somewhat balanced wager, betting a 55% chance that $ZEC trades beyond $2,000 this year.