Zcash Raises $1K to ‘First Stop’: Arthur Hayes

The price of Zcash (ZEC) may be preparing to push towards the $1,000 “initial stop” target, according to Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX.

Main Receptors:

ZEC is up 40% since Arthur Hayes' Dec. 19 liquidity call, as privacy narratives mount.

Zcash charts targeting $1,000 in the long term, but a retracement to $400 should not be ruled out.

The price of ZEC will ride 40% after the adoption of Hayes.

Hayes' optimism for Zcash first appeared in an interview on Dec. 19, where he noted that even though the Federal Reserve has yet to announce “quantitative easing” in 2026, the currency could still return to markets.

Policymakers rely on short-term funding operations and reserve-management purchases to quietly introduce major news to the financial system.

In that setup, privacy and zero-knowledge technologies will re-emerge as the dominant crypto narrative, positioning Zcash as a liquid proxy business if risk appetite returns, Hayes argued.

Since that interview was released, ZEC has rallied nearly 40%, rising to $550. The move extends an 82% recovery from the low near $300 established a month ago.

The pump appeared similar to Hayes' ZEC support in October when the price rallied from about $75 to a high of $775.

A breakout of the ZEC triangle reinforces the $1,000 level.

Crypto trader Crypto Curb highlighted the breakout of Zcash from the prevailing upward triangle pattern as it found the 50-week moving average (50-week MA) as support.

In his analysis, the breakout structure leaves the door open for a direct expansion to the $1,000 zone, especially if privacy-focused narratives gain traction in 2026.

Related: What's Behind the Rise of Privacy Tokens as the Rest of the Market Falters?

On the other hand, analyst Eric Van Tassel said that the return of ZEC price to the $400 zone could be due to the rising wedge pattern in the coming days.

This potentially bearish move would be a “normal reset”, but it would wipe out excess gains and enable a deeper rally towards the $1,000 target.

“Note that we don't see an actual test of $400 as the price is below $404.60 on this chart,” Van Tassel wrote on Saturday:

“[Market makers] They love going back and tagging those important numbers. This further strengthens the case for retracement as the increasing wedge gauge movement is closely matched.

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