Vitalik bets on Privacy Coin! ZEC big pump 300% to 173 USD, RAI hits annual high.

The Ethereum Foundation announced the establishment of a privacy cluster, and the narrative around Privacy Coins has made a strong comeback. Zcash (ZEC) has achieved a 300% pump, breaking through $173, reaching a new high since 2021. Railgun (RAIL) surged to $2.76, boosted by a $5 million donation from Vitalik Buterin. Institutions are adopting privacy technology to combat surveillance, with ZEC targeting a challenge of $1,648 by 2030, but regulatory risks remain the biggest variable.

ZEC breaks three-year high, privacy technology regains mainstream recognition

Zcash recently reached a peak of $179.46 and is currently stabilizing in the $173 range, marking the highest trading level since December 2021. This pump is not due to random market fluctuations, but rather a result of privacy technology regaining application scenarios.

ZCash officially reiterates the slogan “Privacy is Normal,” aiming to lead verified but non-transparent transactions to become the standard in blockchain. This long-term project has experienced several slight rebounds but has never broken through; now, it has finally emerged from the trough under the dual push of institutional demand and technological upgrades.

Three Major Breakthroughs in the Zcash Ecosystem

Technical Upgrade:

Halo Arc Protocol: Eliminating the need for trusted setup and significantly increasing scalability

Zashi Wallet: Now available on the Solana App Store, expanding cross-chain interoperability.

ThorSwap Integration: Achieve seamless exchanges between ZEC, BTC, and Ethereum

Institutional Recognition Enhancement:

ZCash Trust has obtained qualified investor certification, demonstrating institutional acceptance of privacy assets.

De-anonymization Tech to solve exchange compliance issues

Organizations adopt privacy technology to combat harmful surveillance and protect wallet information.

Economic Model Optimization:

Supply limit of 21 million coins (same as Bitcoin), long-term deflationary mechanism.

Recently, the halving has reduced block rewards, alleviating the selling pressure on miners.

Privacy transactions need to increase from the current 15% to 40-50% to support a four-digit valuation.

Monero (XMR) has surged past $336, indicating that the entire Privacy Coin sector is being favored by capital, outperforming the market by 65.3% over the past 30 days.

RAI surges 400% with support from Vitalik for 5 million USD

The native token RAIL of the Railgun mixer has surged to a price of $2.76, reaching its highest level since spring 2022. Year-to-date, RAIL's market cap has increased by over 400% from its May low, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the return of the privacy narrative.

On October 8, the Ethereum Foundation announced the establishment of a privacy cluster composed of 47 engineers, researchers, and cryptographers, which has drawn significant attention to the Railgun project. This cluster will closely collaborate with the Privacy and Scalability Exploration (PSE) program, and Railgun is the primary focus of support.

Vitalik Buterin has donated a total of up to 5 million USD to Railgun over the years, and he himself has used Railgun for hidden transactions. Unlike the sanctioned Tornado Cash, Railgun reviews transactions and checks blacklisted wallets, striking a balance between privacy protection and compliance requirements.

This “regulated privacy” model may become a future trend: providing transaction-level confidentiality while meeting anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) framework requirements, avoiding becoming a target of regulatory crackdowns.

Can ZEC reach $1,648 by 2030?

(Source: Trading View)

The four-digit target price depends on the large-scale adoption of privacy transactions. If by 2027-2028, the proportion of Zcash transactions using advanced privacy features rises from the current 15% to 40-50%, the network valuation could indeed see explosive growth.

Technical upgrade roadmap supports long-term bullishness:

· The November network upgrade may drive ZEC to sprint towards 300 dollars by the end of the year.

· DeFi platform integration attracts institutional liquidity through compatible bridge.

· The transparent mode allows institutions to enjoy privacy options while complying with regulations.

· The Sword of Damocles of Regulation

The biggest obstacle to the expansion of Zcash remains regulatory risk. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and European regulators may take a tougher stance on Privacy Coins, accusing them of facilitating money laundering and tax evasion. Some major exchanges have delisted ZEC in certain jurisdictions, leading to fragmented liquidity.

Ironically, the complete traceability of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) may drive some people towards privacy-preserving alternatives, becoming a catalyst instead.

ZEC Market Outlook

High volatility is a characteristic of Privacy Coin:

Historical Volatility: Bull markets pump over 200%, bear markets retrace 80-90%.

Suggested strategy: Gradually accumulate through DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) in the range of 150-200 dollars.

Technical support: The main support level is around 120-140 dollars.

Breakthrough Signal: Confirmed breakout at 250 with volume may indicate entry into the 400-500 expansion phase.