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Steve McClurg, the CEO of Canary Funds, predicted a further price crash for Zcash crypto. His comments come just a few days after he claimed ZEC is a pump-and-dump, preparing to rug-pull.
Despite the forecasts, ZEC proponents are optimistic about future price pumps.
Steve McClurg Gives Bearish Zcash Crypto Forecast
Commenting on the recent drawdown in ZEC, McClurg forecasted more price drops for the privacy coin. McClurg has held positions in privacy coins since the early days, including Zcash crypto holdings.
Amid a volatile period for the Zcash price, McClurg’s recent comment builds on his earlier post from November 23, 2025.
At the time, ZEC traded around $573, but it is now down almost 50% since the post.
As of this writing, ZEC is traded at $331.73, down 9.4% over the past 24 hours. However, the trading volume has increased by 12.8% to $1.32 billion.
McClurg has now forecasted that the ZEC price will continue to go down. This prediction aligns with his view of ZEC as a manipulated scheme rather than organic growth.
The CEO fears retail distrust could slow adoption of the ZEC token. Still, McClurg separates the Zcash short-term price drama from its technology value, including privacy chains and features.
McClurg emphasized that he remains bullish about Zcash cryptocurrency and other privacy coins in the long term. His ranking is in the following order: Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), and Zcash.
Recently, the data analytics platform CryptoQuant confirmed an increase in retail interest in privacy coins, particularly ZEC and DASH.
This rally led to its current highs, with ZEC leading other coins in the sector.
More Support for the Zcash Pump and Dump Thesis
Meanwhile, other market analysts have joined McClurg in spreading the ZEC pump-and-dump narrative.
An analyst known as Crypto Bitlord on X criticized ZEC. He described the token as one of the most successful large-scale pump-and-dump scams in crypto.
The analyst accused Zcash promoters of orchestrating a large-scale fraud.
According to Crypto Bitlord, “VC, media and industry figures all worked together with one common goal of selling dogshit as the next Bitcoin.”
In the crypto market, “pump and dump” is a classic market manipulation tactic, where insiders hype an asset to inflate its price. The goal is to attract retail buyers, then they sell their holdings at the peak, leaving others with losses.
Crypto Bitlord concluded his post by throwing a direct jab at Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, and Zcash crypto promoter.
“Congratulations @0xMert_, seriously,” Crypto Bitlord wrote.
He noted that Mert consistently advocated for people to buy ZEC when it traded between $600 and $700. Now that the price is 50% lower than those levels, Crypto Bitlord claims Mert is responsible for letting investors lose funds.
Proponents Defend Zcash
Despite the ongoing ZEC price volatility and the pump-and-dump thesis, some community members remain hopeful about future rallies.
Crypto trader Ayman Mahboub emphasized that the crypto market is bearish. However, the trader believes this is an opportune time for coins like Zcash to demonstrate the value of their technology.
According to the trader, Zcash pumped while the market bled. Now, he believes the token is correcting with the rest of the market. He therefore expressed disappointment at people who called ZEC a scam.
“Funny how a coin that ran over 500 percent against the field becomes the target when it breathes,” says Ayman.
He went on to state that Privacy is not a meme, but a long game.
Ayman sees volatility as part of the journey, especially for ZEC, which moves on its own rhythm.
He believes ZEC is still among the few assets in this market that actually challenge the status quo.
