Zcash (ZEC) Surges to 6-Month High After SEC Probe Ends

Zcash extended its rally this week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission closed a multi-year investigation into the Zcash Foundation without recommending enforcement action.

The regulatory decision removed one of the biggest overhangs surrounding the privacy-focused network. ZEC rose 12.6% over 24 hours and 25.4% over the past week, returning to levels last seen during late 2025.

Zcash Crypto Climbs as SEC Closes Multi-Year Probe

The Zcash Foundation said the agency had concluded its review of the non-profit and would not recommend any enforcement action or required changes to the protocol.

The notice referenced the original August 31, 2023 subpoena and confirmed that no fines, penalties, or operational adjustments would follow from the multi-year review.

The ZEC price jumped between 10 and 15 percent in the trading sessions that followed the announcement, with the token outperforming the market across the same window.

The closure removed a long-standing legal question that had weighed on the asset since the initial subpoena.

The agency dropped or quietly closed several other crypto cases during 2025 and early 2026 without bringing charges, and the Zcash Foundation outcome fits the same pattern.

ZEC Price Hits Six-Month High With Strong Weekly Gain

The ZEC price climbed to a six-month high during the rally, with the 24-hour range running between $580.37 and $686.24 at the peak of the move.

The seven-day range stretched from $487.54 to $678.70, with the upper bound matching the high set during the late 2025 rally.

The token now sits up 12.6 percent on the day, 25.4 percent over the past week, and 15.7 percent across the last 14 days.

The 30-day return stands at 98.0 percent and the one-year return at 1,481.9 percent.

From the all-time low of $16.08 recorded on July 5, 2024, the ZEC price is now up 3,976.7 percent.

Halving and Privacy Demand Tighten Supply

The SEC announcement was only one factor supporting the rally. Zcash completed its latest halving on Nov. 15, 2025, reducing block rewards from 3.125 ZEC to 1.5625 ZEC. The reduction cut new token issuance by 50%, tightening supply growth across the network.

At the same time, the ZIP-1015 lockbox proposal redirected 12% of block rewards into a community-controlled wallet. That mechanism effectively removed about 337,000 ZEC annually from circulating supply.

Network development also continued strengthening user activity. The Oct. 2025 Zashi wallet integration with NEAR Intents introduced shielded swaps directly within the wallet ecosystem, helping drive higher transaction activity during the following months.

The rollout coincided with a major increase in user participation and stronger demand for privacy-focused transactions.

On-chain data showed more than 30% of total ZEC supply now sits inside shielded pools, the highest level recorded for the metric. The increase suggested users were actively using privacy features instead of holding the asset purely for speculation.

That trend may remain important for ZEC price performance as privacy-focused crypto demand continues growing under tighter global financial surveillance rules.