Zcash Surges 20% After Paradigm's Matt Huang Reveals ZEC Investment

Zcash (ZEC) rallied approximately 20% over 24 hours after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed that the crypto investment firm holds the privacy-focused token and backs its development lab. At last check on Thursday, ZEC traded near $1,338, extending its one-month gain to roughly 160% and far outpacing Bitcoin's 18.2% rise over the same period, according to CoinGecko data.

Huang announced via a Wednesday post that Paradigm invested in the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) and acquired ZEC tokens directly. He described Zcash as a "private complement to Bitcoin" and endorsed its inflation-funded developer fund, arguing sustained funding is critical as AI-driven cyber capabilities and quantum computing progress. Huang also signaled support for combining Zcash's coin voting mechanism with additional governance structures to reduce monetary volatility.

Paradigm's broader involvement in Zcash was previously disclosed. In March, ZODL announced a $25 million-plus seed round featuring Paradigm, a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital. ZEC's surge coincided with a wider crypto market rally following the Federal Reserve's 25-basis-point rate hike to 3.75%–4%, its first increase since 2023.

Privacy coins have significantly outperformed the broader market this cycle. Glassnode data shows the sector trading 213% above its level at Bitcoin's October 2025 peak, with a basket excluding ZEC up roughly 85% over the past year. ZEC's market capitalization recently surpassed $20 billion, reaching its highest valuation since 2016.