The price of cryptocurrency poster child Bitcoin has languished in recent days owing to the raid of a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Friday.
But the entire cryptocurrency market has not followed its descent. While the price of Bitcoin dipped to $8,500 Tuesday after nearly going back to $9,000 on Friday, the price of cryptocurrency Zcash surged.
The jump came after cryptocurrency bulls Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss gave Zcash a thumbs up Monday, adding that their Bitcoin exchange, Gemini, had gained regulatory approval to list Zcash on its platform. The price of Zcash has surged 47% to $364 since then, adding about $462.8 million to Zcash’s now $1.5 billion market capitalization. Gemini, now the first licensed Zcash exchange, plans to allow Zcash trading starting Tuesday, May 22 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
In Gemini’s press release announcing the approvals, the Winklevoss twins focused on Zcash and how it can co-exist alongside Bitcoin. While Bitcoin is often billed as highly private, it still broadcasts from where and to where funds are moving—allowing those with basic computer skills to track it. Zcash, on the other hand, was created as a more private cryptocurrency, encrypting those transactions.
And while Zcash may sound ripe for the criminal underground, average Joes may also have legitimate reasons to hide payments from prying eyes. Consider a doctor’s visit or a surprise anniversary gift.
“Proud of my team for once again publicly demonstrating that we don’t leak information and we don’t take advantage of our privileged access to information by trading on it,” he wrote.
Proud of my team for once again publicly demonstrating that we don't leak information and we don't take advantage of our privileged access to information by trading on it. pic.twitter.com/HfUnRBqzx4
— zooko🛡🦓🦓🦓 ⓩ (@zooko) May 14, 2018
If you don't know what I'm getting at, it is that the price and volume of ZEC trading jumped *after* https://t.co/dQExjldaug was public, not before. This is in stark contrast to most other big announcements in this space.
— zooko🛡🦓🦓🦓 ⓩ (@zooko) May 14, 2018
The New York State Department of Financial Services announced that Gemini also gained approval to list Litecoin as well as Bitcoin Cash in the future.
