ASTOCK surged from the 100k level to the million level in just a few days: on Arc’s “stock layer”—is there a second chapter?
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been digging through the Arc ecosystem. A STOCK is the one I think is most worth taking out and discussing on its own. A few days ago, it was still a small project in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars range; recently it has already entered the million-dollar tier, and at one point its valuation surged even higher during that period. In the first round of price discovery, clearly something already happened. So now I’m not really too concerned about how much A STOCK has gone up. What I really want to know is: A coin that has already risen more than tenfold—do the product behind it, the capital, and the users behind it all rise together? If not, then it may just be that the price has moved too fast.
After ZEC’s explosive surge, I revisited the on-chain data and X: is this really driven by demand, or by FOMO?
ZEC has recently returned to the vicinity of $1,600 again. Over the past 30 days, the price increase has already nearly reached 100%, and the market cap has come to about $27.7 billion. Once it has climbed to this level, I don’t think it’s very meaningful anymore to simply discuss whether it can still go up. What I want to know is: In this rally, is there truly real usage and real capital backing it? Or has the price been pushed too far by sentiment on X and high leverage? When you look at on-chain data, ETFs, derivatives, and social data together, the answer isn’t simply a matter of “yes” or “no.” 01|First, look at the on-chain data: what’s truly worth paying attention to isn’t the price, but privacy usage.
$$ZEC stood at $1,500— is this round really just trading on “privacy”? Recently, ZEC has once again climbed into the $1,500 area. With the price reaching this level, many people’s first reaction might be: It’s up so much—can it still go higher? But after I rechecked Zcash’s on-chain data, ETF information, upgrades, and contract metrics, I found that this rally is indeed not just “privacy coin” hype. 🔒 1|Real users are actually using privacy Right now, about 4.9 million ZEC are held in Shielded Pools, accounting for roughly 28.9% of the current supply. Of this, the new Ironwood Pool is approaching about 3.99 million ZEC. So, nearly 30% of all ZEC have already entered privacy pools. At minimum, this suggests that Zcash’s “privacy” is not just a story. 🏦 2|Institutional entry has already opened Grayscale’s Zcash ETF ($ZCSH) listed on NYSE Arca on August 25. The latest data shows AUM is approaching $1 billion, and the fund holds about 600,000 ZEC. For ZEC, whose maximum supply is only 21 million, this institutional gateway is definitely worth keeping an eye on. 🚀 3|NU7 is the next catalyst NU7 currently has the following plan: Oct 6 testnet / Oct 20 final mainnet decision / Nov 5 mainnet activation One of the biggest changes is shortening the target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. ⚠️ But the biggest problem is obvious right now: leverage is very high. Currently, ZEC: Contract OI ≈ $3.4 billion 24h futures volume ≈ $5.5 billion 24h spot volume ≈ $540 million Futures volume is roughly 10 times spot. So right now, ZEC has: A privacy narrative + an ETF + NU7 But also very strong: Leverage + long/short positioning battles. Going forward, I’ll mainly watch three things: Shielded Pools, the ZCSH ETF, and contract OI. If real usage and institutional demand keep growing, and leverage gradually cools down, this structure will become healthier. What’s truly worth watching in this ZEC round might not be just “privacy coin is pumping again,” but rather: After AI and on-chain monitoring become stronger and stronger, will the market re-price “financial privacy”? Do you think $ZEC has already run too far, or is the privacy narrative just getting started? #ZEC