ZEC has surpassed a market capitalization of $23 billion, entering the top 10 cryptocurrencies. The token price exceeded $1,500 on September 17, following a 24-hour gain of up to 23% and a monthly increase of up to 193%.
The Network Upgrade 7 governance vote concluded on September 16 with 2.4 million ZEC participating. Voters approved reduced block times by 99.9% and supported retaining Bitcoin-style halvings by 98.9%.
Institutional interest is driven by Grayscale’s ZCSH product, which reached $727 million in assets by mid-September after launching on August 25. Additionally, Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed the firm’s ZEC holdings.
Market volatility was further influenced by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike, which triggered short liquidations in derivatives markets. This forced buying contributed to the upward price momentum for ZEC.
