Zcash Surges 17% After Fed's First Rate Hike of Cycle — SkimNews
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Zcash jumped 17% to nearly $1,358 in Asian trading Thursday, far outpacing every other major cryptocurrency, according to CoinDesk data
- The Federal Reserve raised its target range by a quarter point to 375-400 basis points Wednesday — its first hike of the cycle, though markets had priced the move at roughly 69% going in
- Bitcoin climbed just 1% to above $76,400 and barely reacted to the Fed decision; FxPro's Alex Kuptsikevich said it had already "overreacted negatively" to the CLARITY Act failing in the Senate this week
- Some 86,816 traders were liquidated over 24 hours for a combined $345 million, with shorts absorbing $208 million of that pain versus $137 million for longs, per CoinGlass
- Ether led liquidations at nearly $89 million, followed by bitcoin at $85 million and zcash at $56 million — notable given zcash's $23 billion market cap
- The largest single liquidation was an $18 million bitcoin position force-closed on Hyperliquid
Why it matters: The Fed's first hike of the cycle barely moved crypto, but leveraged positioning did the damage — $345 million was liquidated in 24 hours, with short sellers (who had bet on a dovish outcome) absorbing $208 million. Zcash's 17% move on just a $23 billion market cap signals outsized speculative froth in smaller-cap alt corners.
Ask SkimNews
