A recent market mood around Zcash (ZEC) is being likened to bitcoin in 2019.

Blockchain media outlet U.Today reported on Sept. 30 (local time) that Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss (타일러 윙클보스) compared the current mood surrounding privacy coin Zcash to the crypto market in 2019.

The remarks come as Zcash has rebounded sharply. Zcash is a cryptocurrency focused on privacy and has recently risen steeply, drawing market attention. Winklevoss said the current buzz around Zcash resembles interest in bitcoin at the time.

In 2019, bitcoin came right after the 2018 bear market. Prices had fallen sharply after the speculative frenzy of 2017, and retail investor enthusiasm had cooled. By CoinGecko data, bitcoin started around $3,693 on Jan. 1, 2019 and rose to about $13,000 by late June, then gave back part of the gains and entered 2020 at around $7,195.

Investors watching bitcoin at the time also discussed building out foundations such as institutional infrastructure and custody. Winklevoss' comparison is read as placing weight on the idea that Zcash now is not just a surging token, but one attracting both an investment narrative and a technology narrative.

Privacy coins have sat in an ambiguous position under regulatory pressure. Support among privacy advocates has been strong, but some exchanges have delisted privacy-focused cryptocurrencies or stopped handling them, citing regulatory scrutiny.

Zcash drew attention again in 2026. It began trading around $511 in January before undergoing a sharp correction, and in February it fell about 27 percent to around $191 at one point. A rebound gathered pace from May. Zcash rose more than 60 percent in May, topping $680 during the month, and ended the month around $565.

The uptrend accelerated after the summer. In August, it rose about 85 percent from around $457 to about $848. It extended the surge in September, breaking above $1,000 in early September and climbing to $1,335.51 on Sept. 16. Alongside the price rebound, renewed interest in privacy technology has also been a factor in Zcash returning to the center of the market.

Gemini has steadily expanded its touchpoints with Zcash. In 2018, it became the first licensed exchange to offer Zcash trading and custody after receiving approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services. In August 2025, it supported Zcash unified addresses, and three months later it introduced Orchard, Zcash's new privacy protocol.

Its scope of support expanded further this year. Gemini launched a dedicated Zcash credit card on Jan. 27, and on Sept. 29 it announced that its infrastructure interacting with the Zcash blockchain had moved to a new open-source full node, Zakura.

In this backdrop, Zcash's rebound is being seen less as a move explained only by a price surge, and more as one where expanded exchange support and a reassessment of privacy technology are reinforcing each other. Gemini's broader support, from initial trading and custody to address systems, privacy protocols and node infrastructure, has also remained a factor in judging the sustainability of the Zcash ecosystem.

zcash:native sentiment on X today is how bitcoin felt when I first got started in crypto (2019)