Arthur Hayes Goes Big On Zcash

Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes), co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer of his family office Maelstrom, has publicly revealed that Zcash is now his second-largest crypto holding, sitting just behind $BTC. The disclosure, first reported by CoinTelegraph, underlines a growing conviction that financial privacy is moving from a niche concern to a mainstream investment thesis.

A Conviction Built on Surveillance Concerns

Hayes has been direct about his reasoning. As governments, big tech, and artificial intelligence expand their ability to monitor financial activity, he argues that the demand for truly private transactions will only grow. His view is that financial privacy will become a pressing concern in the years ahead, particularly as more countries roll out central bank digital currencies and tighten tracking of financial flows.

Zcash's hybrid model supports both transparent and shielded transactions, and like Bitcoin, it has a fixed supply of 21 million coins secured by a proof-of-work mechanism. The protocol uses zero-knowledge proofs to conceal transaction details, enabling fully private transfers while allowing users to disclose information selectively when needed.

Hayes has also laid out a bullish price target for the token, predicting it could reach between $10,000 and $20,000 per coin, targeting a ZEC/BTC pair price of 0.2.

A Broader Privacy Coin Moment

The disclosure comes amid a sharp rally in Zcash, which climbed from a low of $137 to over $730 in the past month, representing an increase of more than 400%. Other privacy coins have also posted strong weekly gains, with Dash, Decred, and ZKsync all gaining more than 100%.

Zcash Foundation executive director Alex Bornstein said the recent resurgence of Zcash has been entirely organic, fueled by rising public concern over government surveillance and data control, and that the renewed interest reflects a powerful narrative around digital privacy and financial autonomy.

Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain has also disclosed that the firm has been building a significant position in Zcash since February 2026. Grayscale, meanwhile, is moving to list the first US exchange-traded fund tracking Zcash, filing an S-3 registration statement with the SEC to convert its existing Zcash Trust into a spot ETF. If approved, the fund would be the first regulated spot ETF for a privacy-preserving crypto, listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH.

Whether Hayes' endorsement marks a turning point for privacy coins broadly remains to be seen. But with institutional players increasingly taking notice, Zcash is no longer a fringe bet.

Sources:
CoinTelegraph: Arthur Hayes says Zcash has become his family office's second-largest holding after Bitcoin
DailyCoin: Arthur Hayes Names Zcash His Second Largest Holding, ZEC Jumps
CoinDesk: Grayscale Files to List First Zcash ETF in the US Amid 1,000% Rally