Zcash jumps 23% as bitcoin and major tokens rise despite Fed’s first hike since 2023

Privacy token Zcash surged 23% over the past 24 hours as bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies rose overnight into Asian morning hours Thursday, alongside a recovery in stock futures following the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate increase since 2023.

ZEC traded near $1,369, while bitcoin edged up less than 1% to about $76,258. Solana gained nearly 3% to just below $100. BNB and HYPE, the token of crypto trading platform Hyperliquid, added more than 2%, while ether, XRP and dogecoin rose between 1% and 2%.

ZEC’s surge coincided with comments from Matt Huang, co-founder of prominent crypto investment firm Paradigm, who discussed its role as a privacy complement to bitcoin and disclosed that his firm owns ZEC, per an X post.

Zcash lets users send money without publicly revealing who paid whom or how much. Its holders recently backed proposals to make payments faster while keeping scheduled cuts to the creation of new coins, a feature it shares with bitcoin.

Huang, whose firm owns ZEC, described Zcash as “a private complement to Bitcoin.” He supported continued funding for its developers, while arguing that votes by coin holders should be combined with other ways of deciding changes to the network.