Zcash has successfully completed its decade-long infrastructure transition, with zcashd reaching end of support at block height 3417100 on July 18. The network transitioned from its original zcashd implementation, which launched in 2016, to the newer Zebra and Zakura software ecosystems. According to AMBCrypto, this evolution began with Zebra's 2024 release of a Rust-based alternative, followed by the planned retirement of zcashd after the 2024 deprecation notice. The transition strengthens network maintainability, prepares for the upcoming Ironwood hard fork, and reduces long-term operational risk for node operators.
ZCash [ZEC] has extended its impressive rally, surging 13.85% on Tuesday, July 14, and gaining an additional 1.6% on Wednesday, according to reports from AMBCrypto. The privacy cryptocurrency has now made 56.12% gains in under three weeks, measured from the local low at $368.3. The daily trading volume increased by 43%, reaching $647 million, indicating sustained speculative trading activity. However, as reported by AMBCrypto, the technical breakout was primarily driven by short liquidations rather than the volume surge itself.
The primary catalyst for ZEC's surge was massive short liquidations totaling $12.75 million, as reported by AMBCrypto. This represented a significant imbalance, with long liquidations reaching only $500,000, making short liquidations 26 times larger than long positions. The derivatives market dominated trading activity, with Zcash futures trading exceeding $2.437 billion, substantially higher than spot traders at $255 million. Notably, a whale on Hyperliquid was fully liquidated for more than $1.81 million in a ZEC short order, losing approximately $130,500.
Despite the Orchard vulnerability concerns, Zcash's network activity demonstrates resilient user confidence. As reported by AMBCrypto, shielded balances declined 14% to 4.42 million ZEC, but users continued relying on private transactions which rose 11.1% quarter-over-quarter to 131,584. The anonymity set for Zcash expanded by 325,127 units to 124.08 million, indicating an increase in participants using Zcash for privacy purposes. Additionally, average daily trading volume increased by 33.8% quarter-over-quarter to $373 million, further reinforcing that overall network usage has been increasing despite the security concerns.
ZCash's price successfully broke above the horizontal resistance of an ascending triangle at $538, as reported by AMBCrypto. The $560 level was marked as a key short-term resistance but has now been breached, with the 78.6% retracement level at $560.11 being taken out. The OI-Weighted Funding Rate turned green from being red two days ago, with the indicator reading at 0.0086%, showing that bulls were paying a premium to bears to keep their positions open. The CMF on the 3-day chart remained above +0.05 to signal strong buying pressure, while the RSI was at 60.6 to indicate considerable upward momentum.
Zcash is implementing a July 28 Ironwood hard fork to address a critical flaw discovered in the Orchard shielded pool by security researcher Taylor Hornby on May 29. According to Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox, Ironwood will seal the old Orchard pool and use its turnstile to contain potential counterfeit ZEC in circulation. The upgrade will activate at block 3,428,143 and retire the current Orchard pool, introducing a new shielded pool based on corrected cryptography. Users will no longer be able to send or receive ZEC inside the old Orchard pool after activation, with funds able to leave only through the turnstile that prevents more ZEC from exiting than legitimately entered. The turnstile mechanism prevented forged funds from leaving the pool other than legitimate deposits, and Ironwood strengthens this protection through formal verification and quantum recovery capabilities.
For the bullish projection to remain valid, ZEC must stay above $538 and successfully retest the breakout zone. A price move beyond $644 would flip the ZEC H4 structure bullishly, with the next target at $690, a high made in May, and $750 another bullish target. As reported by AMBCrypto, traders can wait for sustained capital inflows and a move past $644 to confirm the bullish turnaround. The Long/Short Ratio shows some bearish sentiment, with top traders maintaining a ratio of 0.46 and retail traders at 0.51, though the recent breakout above $560 suggests improving market structure. The July 28 hard fork is expected to cause temporary exchange and wallet disruptions as providers prepare for the upgrade.
