Zcash (ZEC) traded at about $1,155 at 13:34 UTC on 8 September 2026, up roughly 36% in seven days, according to CoinGecko data. The same day, Grayscale said its spot Zcash ETF (ticker ZCSH) had grown to more than $500 million in assets, two weeks after it started trading on NYSE Arca on 25 August. That ETF demand, after a July network upgrade that followed a serious bug, is the main backdrop to the week.
The week in numbers (CoinGecko)
| Measure | Value | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|
| Price at snapshot | about $1,155 | 8 Sep 2026, 13:34 |
| Daily reference price | $1,139.14 | 8 Sep 2026, 00:00 |
| Seven-day high | $1,246.06 | 6 Sep 2026, 22:00 |
| Seven-day low | $794.98 | 2 Sep 2026, 13:00 |
| Daily reference price a week earlier | $847.71 | 1 Sep 2026, 00:00 |
| Daily reference price a month earlier | $507.88 | 9 Aug 2026, 00:00 |
| Market capitalisation | $19.27 billion | 8 Sep 2026, 00:00 |
| 24-hour volume, all tracked markets | $943.0 million | 8 Sep 2026, 00:00 |
| All-time high | $3,191.93 | 28 Oct 2016 |
What the figures show:
- Week: comparing the two daily reference prices (1 and 8 September) gives a rise of about 34%. Comparing the 13:34 snapshot with the 1 September price gives about 36%.
- Month: the price more than doubled in 30 days, up about 124% between the 9 August and 8 September daily reference prices.
- Range: the high was 57% above the low. Most of the move came between 2 and 6 September.
- Distance from the record: at $1,139, ZEC was about 64% below its all-time high from October 2016.
Since then
CoinGecko hourly data shows ZEC peaking near $1,680 on 26 September 2026. On 25 October 2026 at 08:10 UTC, CoinGecko listed it at $1,191.73, ranked 10th by market capitalisation.
How ZEC got from a bug to a $500 million ETF
Step through the dated events behind ZEC's move, from the Orchard flaw in late May to the price on 25 October 2026.
- Late May 2026Flaw found in the Orchard shielded pooldone
Shielded Labs researcher Taylor Hornby found a flaw in the zero-knowledge circuit of the Orchard shielded pool. The Block reported it could in theory have allowed counterfeit ZEC to be created without detection; analysts found no evidence that it was exploited.
- 2 June 2026Emergency soft fork disables Orcharddone
An emergency soft fork disabled Orchard activity.
- 28 July 2026Ironwood goes live in NU6.3done
The new Ironwood shielded pool went live at block height 3,428,143 as part of the NU6.3 network upgrade. Orchard now only supports withdrawals.
- 25 August 2026Grayscale's ZCSH starts tradingdone
Grayscale's converted Zcash Trust began trading as the spot Zcash ETF ZCSH. The Block reported its fee at 2.5%.
- 2 September 2026Seven-day lowdone
CoinGecko data shows the week's low of $794.98 at 13:00 UTC.
- 4 September 2026ZEC briefly above $1,000done
ForkLog reported ZEC had briefly risen above $1,000, its highest level since 2018. The futures and shielded-supply figures it cited were not verified.
- 6 September 2026Seven-day highdone
CoinGecko data shows the week's high of $1,246.06 at 22:00 UTC, 57% above the low.
- 8 September 2026ZCSH passes $500 million in assetsdone
Grayscale said ZCSH's assets had grown to more than $500 million, with more than $70 million of inflows in two weeks and an in-kind contribution worth about $100 million. ZEC traded at about $1,155 at 13:34 UTC, up roughly 36% in seven days.
- 26 September 2026Later peakdone
CoinGecko hourly data shows ZEC peaking near $1,680.
- 25 October 2026Latest listed pricedone
At 08:10 UTC, CoinGecko listed ZEC at $1,191.73, ranked 10th by market capitalisation.
This lists only the dated events in the article: it does not show prices between these dates, explain why the price moved, or say where ZEC goes next.
What moved ZEC
The Zcash ETF
Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded product. It began trading on NYSE Arca as ZCSH on 25 August 2026, and The Block reported its fee at 2.5%.
Grayscale's press release of 8 September 2026, also filed with the SEC as an exhibit to a Form 8-K, says:
- Assets: ZCSH's AUM "has grown to more than $500 million."
- Inflows: cumulative inflows were "more than $70 million in the two weeks since launching as an ETP."
- Options: ZCSH options started trading on NYSE Arca that day.
- In-kind contribution: an affiliate, DCG International Investments Ltd., "contributed 85,705.32563297 ZEC in exchange for shares of ZCSH," worth about $100 million.
Not all of the $500 million is new money. The $70 million of inflows and the roughly $100 million contribution of existing ZEC are counted separately, and price gains make up much of the rest.
The release also says what the fund is not:
- It is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, so it lacks the protections of 1940 Act funds.
- Buying shares is not a direct investment in ZEC.
The Ironwood upgrade
The rally followed a difficult early summer:
- The bug: in late May, Shielded Labs researcher Taylor Hornby found a flaw in the zero-knowledge circuit of Zcash's Orchard shielded pool. The Block reported that it could in theory have allowed counterfeit ZEC to be created without detection. Analysts found no evidence that it was exploited.
- Emergency fix: an emergency soft fork disabled Orchard activity on 2 June.
- Ironwood: the new shielded pool went live on 28 July 2026, at block height 3,428,143, as part of the NU6.3 network upgrade. Orchard now only supports withdrawals.
Derivatives and shielded supply on 4 September
ForkLog reported on 4 September 2026 that ZEC had briefly risen above $1,000, its highest level since 2018. The same report cited figures from two data providers:
- CoinGlass: 24-hour ZEC futures volume above $8 billion, against $694 million in spot trading, and open interest of $2.3 billion.
- ZecStats: about 4.86 million ZEC, or 28.8% of the roughly 16.91 million ZEC in circulation, held in shielded pools.
On those CoinGlass figures, futures trading was more than ten times spot volume. Leveraged positioning can make moves sharper in both directions.
Reading the week
- Sizing a range: the gap between the 2 September low ($794.98) and the 6 September high ($1,246.06) was about $451, roughly 39% of the 8 September price. A seven-day range that wide is a useful guide to how far ZEC could swing in a week.
- ETF figures: issuer-reported AUM mixes inflows, in-kind contributions and price changes. The inflow figure is the cleaner measure of new demand.
- Fees: a 2.5% annual fee is a cost of holding ZEC through the ETF instead of holding the token itself.
The price, range and market-cap figures all come from CoinGecko, and the intraday numbers depend on the snapshot time.
