ZEC +41.15% in 1 Month Amid Whale Position Adjustments and Maelstrom Fund Allocation

On November 9, 2025, ZEC declined by 4.94% within 24 hours to $568.08, yet it remains on a strong upward trajectory: up 29.27% in seven days, 41.15% in one month, and 914.96% in one year. The recent price action has drawn significant attention from on-chain observers, particularly regarding large holders adjusting their positions and institutional investors reallocating capital toward the privacy-focused cryptocurrency.

ZEC’s market performance has been highlighted by large whale activity on Hyperliquid. On November 9, the largest long position address on the exchange reduced its ZEC holdings from a previous level to 39,500 coins. This adjustment led to a dramatic drop in unrealized profits, from a peak of $12 million to just $200,000. Such activity indicates potential profit-taking or risk mitigation amid a pullback in price.

Meanwhile, a separate whale address entered a long position of 20,800 ZEC at $509.5, with a current unrealized gain of over $1.46 million as of the same date. The position, valued at approximately $12.12 million when opened, has benefited from ZEC’s recent surge. This contrasts with the earlier whale’s decision to reduce its stake, underscoring the varied strategies among large market participants.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and head of the Maelstrom Fund, has also made a notable ZEC allocation, positioning it as the second-largest liquid holding in his family office after Bitcoin. Hayes attributed this to ZEC’s recent rapid price appreciation, which has driven its price from a low of $137 to over $730 in the past month. Despite the recent 24-hour drop, ZEC’s fundamentals remain robust, including a fixed supply of 21 million coins and a hybrid transaction model supporting both transparent and shielded transactions.

The broader market dynamics suggest a growing narrative around digital privacy and financial autonomy, a theme Zcash has long embodied. The Zcash Foundation, which has no direct role in the recent surge in interest, noted that the renewed attention appears to stem from grassroots concern over surveillance and data control. This organic growth has contributed to ZEC’s rising market capitalization, now at $8.9 billion.

In terms of short-term trading activity, ZEC has seen increased volume, with a 139% rise in 24-hour trading to $4.63 billion. On-chain behavior remains a key factor, with both large and small participants adjusting their exposure based on price volatility and position management.

Backtest Hypothesis

To evaluate potential trading strategies around ZEC’s recent volatility, a backtest is being proposed. The focus is on identifying all days on which ZEC’s closing price surged by at least 15% compared to the previous day. This would feed into an event-based back-testing model that simulates buying and selling decisions around these spikes in price movement.

The goal is to assess the effectiveness of entry and exit strategies based on these large price swings, using historical daily close data from January 1, 2022, to November 9, 2025. However, initial attempts to retrieve the price data have encountered technical issues. Resolution options include re-attempting the data pull with revised parameters or using a manually uploaded data file in CSV or JSON format.