"Deafening." That’s how market analyst Arthur Hayes describes the enthusiasm ahead of the upcoming launch of a new digital currency called Zcash – and he’s not alone. While blockchain developers have long aimed to provide users of digital currency with privacy, the technology offered by Zcash could offer its users a hereto unforeseen level of anonymity. Now, investors have taken note. This hype is evidence in the sharp price gains that Zcash futures contracts have enjoyed ahead of the cryptocurrency’s 28th October launch. The contracts, which trade against the price of bitcoin, have surged from a low of $18 (0.027 BTC) on 15th September to a high of $261 (0.379 BTC) as of yesterday, a change that represents an increase of nearly 1,300%. But that robust price increase has been made possible due to a non-existent supply and high demand. As Zcash does not plan to distribute coins through a public sale of its cryptocurrency to investors, that means miners and those who invested in the startup behind the technology will gain early access. Hayes explained that enthusiasm for Zcash tokens is so high, he believes the price of 1 ZEC would pass the price of bitcoin by the year’s end. The reason? Investors don’t want to miss out on a rare opportunity to buy in early. Hayes told CoinDesk: "No one wants to miss the next bitcoin or ether. Everyone is trying to get their hands on ZEC." The comments speak to the outsized gains that traders who have timed past digital currency launches have achieved. At the time of its initial crowdsale, the price of one ethereum token (1 ETH) was roughly $0.30. Today, it’s $11.93, or a nearly 4,000% increase. A similar appreciation has been observed in bitcoin, which rose from $0 to $685, and Augur’s […]
