Zcash Price Forecast: ZEC rebounds as ZODL founder now supports ending community grants

Zcash (ZEC) shows signs of recovery on Monday, extending gains above $1,250 as the Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL) founder, Josh Swihart, now supports the compromise proposal to end the 8% block reward share directed to Zcash Community Grants (ZCG). Institutional and retail investors show signs of renewed risk appetite for Zcash with the second weekly Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) inflows of roughly $18 million while its futures Open Interest rises to almost 2 million ZEC.

The technical outlook for Zcash indicates a near-term upside bias toward the $1,385 horizontal barrier, which has remained intact since October 6.

Zcash NU7 and compromise proposal in focus

Zcash's ecosystem developments could remain in focus this week, with the Network Upgrade 7 scheduled for November 5. The upgrade will reduce the block intervals to 25 seconds from 75 seconds, improving transaction confirmation times, and disable the Sprout pool and its transactions. 

Meanwhile, ZODL’s founder Josh Swihart announced in an X post on Monday that he now supports the compromise proposal by Zcash co-founders Sean Bowe and Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn to end the Zcash Community Grants' 8% block reward share. The proposal redirects these funds into a "Future Dev and Legal Defense Fund" lockbox. This will push ZCG to donate 50,000 ZEC to the Network Sustainability Mechanism, while the ongoing grants will continue from the existing treasury.

Demand resurfaces for Zcash

Zcash ETF has seen renewed buying pressure over the last two weeks, with $17.72 million in inflows last week, followed by $41.09 million. This streak follows three straight weeks of outflows after the 3-for-1 stock split on September 28, implying that the increased volume-driven selling pressure has faded. In addition, the renewed inflows align with the upcoming NU7 upgrade on November 5 and a potential change in network grants.

On the retail side, CoinGlass data shows the Zcash Open Interest (OI) at 1.99 million ZEC on Monday, up from 1.96 million ZEC on Sunday. This recovery in OI after declining to 1.94 million ZEC on Saturday from 2.18 million ZEC on Tuesday suggests a gradual positional buildup, reaffirming renewed risk appetite.

Technical outlook: Can Zcash price surpass the $1,385 barrier?

Zcash trades at $1,257, showing mild recovery on Monday. The privacy coin maintains a near-term bullish bias, with a rising trendline supporting the uptrend on the four-hour chart, connecting the October 18 and 30 lows near $1,215.

Zcash also reclaimed both the 50-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $1,250 and the 200-period EMA at $1,240 on the same chart, suggesting buyers are defending key pivot zones.

Momentum shifts from bearish to neutral on the four-hour chart, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 50, rising toward the neutral midline, and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) holding flat below the signal and zero lines as histograms wane, suggesting that dips are being supported rather than aggressively sold.

On the topside, initial resistance lies at the October 6 high at $1,385, where a sustained break would pave the way for an extended rally. Based on the Fibonacci retracement from $1,385 to the October 18 low at $1,049, the 127.2% and 161.8% extension levels around $1,493 and $1,644 could emerge as the next key resistance levels.

On the downside, immediate support is seen around the 50- and 200-period EMAs at $1,250 and $1,240, forming a broader demand band below. Deeper pullbacks would likely find structural support near the 50% retracement at $1,205 and the rising trendline around $1,215, where buyers could attempt to reassert the prevailing uptrend.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)