Arthur Hayes Just Revealed His Second-Biggest Holding – and It’s Not Ethereum

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has disclosed that Zcash (ZEC) has become the second-largest liquid holding in his family office, Maelstrom, following only Bitcoin (BTC).

“Due to the rapid ascent in price, ZEC is now the 2nd largest liquid holding in MaelstromFund portfolio behind BTC,” Hayes wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. His revelation comes as Zcash experiences a remarkable price surge, climbing from around $137 to over $730 in just a month – an increase of more than 400%.

The rally in Zcash has been mirrored by gains in other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Dash, Decred, and ZKsync, each of which has risen more than 100% in recent weeks. In contrast, leading digital assets Bitcoin and Ethereum have remained relatively stable, reflecting broader market hesitation.

Despite the recent strength, ZEC has since pulled back, falling roughly 12% in the past 24 hours to around $548, according to CoinMarketCap. Zcash’s market capitalization now sits near $8.9 billion, with trading volume up 139% to $4.63 billion. The token’s circulating supply is about 16.28 million ZEC, capped at a maximum of 21 million, giving it a fully diluted valuation of approximately $11.5 billion.

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Zcash’s design – combining transparent and shielded transactions within a proof-of-work framework – has long positioned it as a privacy-focused alternative to Bitcoin. Its limited supply and technical maturity have helped it regain credibility among traders seeking both anonymity and scarcity.

According to Alex Bornstein, executive director of the Zcash Foundation, the cryptocurrency’s resurgence has been driven organically, without any coordinated marketing effort. Speaking on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction podcast, Bornstein credited the rally to growing public awareness around financial privacy and digital surveillance.

“We were surprised to see when these mentions started popping up. Then to see that kind of wave just start to spread and then crest was extraordinary,” Bornstein said, adding that Zcash’s comeback highlights a “powerful narrative” of privacy and autonomy in the digital economy.