Zcash reaches eight-year high as futures open interest hits $1.8 billion

Zcash briefly reached $888, its highest price level since 2018. The price later pulled back to around $843. ZEC was up nearly 7% over 24 hours. ZEC had risen roughly 48% since August 20. ZEC perpetual futures open interest stood at $962.5 million on August 19. It reached $1.8 billion on Monday. Loris Tools provided the derivatives data. Twenty-four-hour futures volume reached $5.3 billion. The average eight-hour funding rate was 0.0106%. Traders paid a premium to hold long positions. Positive funding signals stronger demand for long positions. Futures trading can increase the risk of a short squeeze if ZEC rises. It can also increase the risk of long liquidations if ZEC falls. Zcash's record high was $3,191.93 in October 2016. Zcash fell as low as $16 two years ago. Zcash gained more than 1,800% over the last year. Investors showed greater interest in Zcash as an alternative to Bitcoin with stronger privacy protections. Grayscale filed to convert its Zcash Trust into an ETF in November. The proposal remains under review. ZEC plunged from $635 in June. It later reached $309. Developers disclosed a flaw in the Orchard shielded pool that could have enabled undetectable counterfeiting. Developers issued an emergency patch in June. They activated the Ironwood upgrade in July. Ironwood retired Orchard and added accounting safeguards for counterfeit ZEC in the old pool. Developers could not determine whether anyone had exploited the flaw. Winklevoss-backed Cypherpunk Technologies launched a Zcash mining operation in August. The company estimates that the operation represents 18% of the network's hashrate. The company holds about 323,394 ZEC. The holdings were valued at around $268 million. The company aims to acquire 5% of the circulating supply.