Bitcoin Prices Roar Past $700 But Zcash Steals The Show

Bitcoin may be nearing annual highs, but newcomer Zcash stole the show this week, generating robust momentum even before its launch.
The digital currency, whose use of zero-knowledge proofs is said to offer cryptocurrency users new levels of privacy, released its blockchain and first tokens (zerocoins) on 28th October.
In anticipation of the launch, nascent Zcash futures markets saw robust trading. The pairs, which traded against bitcoin prior to the release of zerocoins, rose from a low of 0.027 BTC ($18.50) on 15th September to 0.78 BTC ($535) on 28th October. Yet, this figure surged nearly 1,200% to 10 BTC ($6,864) on the day of their launch.
This wasn’t the end of its story, however. With a unique release schedule, speculation hit highs often unseen even in the volatile cryptocurrency sector.
Zcash rose to far more impressive heights on digital currency exchange Poloniex, with the price of 1 ZEC reaching roughly 3,300 BTC (or more than $2m), on 28th October. This sharp increase gave way to equally jolting losses, as Zcash was trading at 48 BTC later in the day.

This post was published at Coin Desk on October 29, 2016.