Eli Ben-Sasson Discusses Zcash Surge Amid Bitcoin Concerns

Eli Ben-Sasson, the CEO of StarkWare and co-founder of Zcash, has commented on the recent price surge of Zcash (ZEC), attributing part of the rally to growing concerns that Bitcoin has become ossified. ZEC's price has skyrocketed to approximately $1,388, marking a significant increase of 15-20% within just 24 hours, and elevating its market capitalization to around $23 billion.

Ben-Sasson has previously criticized Bitcoin's fixed supply cap of 21 million coins, arguing that it poses long-term risks as keys are lost and miner incentives diminish over time. He suggested an alternative issuance rate of 4% annually, linked to population growth, in July 2026. His remarks on September 17 framed ZEC's rally as a reaction to these concerns regarding Bitcoin's future.

On September 16, the Zcash community completed its NU7 governance vote, with about 2.4 million ZEC holders participating. An overwhelming 99.9% voted in favor of reducing block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, while 98.9% supported maintaining Bitcoin-style halvings for ZEC's emission schedule. This reduction in block time is expected to triple Zcash's transaction throughput, enhancing its competitiveness against faster Layer 1 chains.

ZEC's remarkable rise from trading between $20 and $50 in December 2025 to its current levels is one of the most notable recoveries in the crypto space. This surge has been attributed to product improvements and a more favorable regulatory environment for privacy-focused assets. Over the same period, ZEC has gained approximately 160%, while Bitcoin has only seen about 18% growth.

The current market dynamics suggest that privacy coins, which have historically traded at a discount to Bitcoin, are gaining traction as regulatory concerns diminish. ZEC's governance vote reflects a strong community consensus on its technical roadmap, which could attract institutional interest if the new block times perform as expected once implemented on the mainnet.