Zcash growth compared to 2021 Ethereum surge by Bankless co-founder

David Hoffman, co-founder of Bankless, suggests that Zcash (ZEC) is experiencing a significant surge driven by capital inflows from Bitcoin investors. Hoffman noted that ZEC's market capitalization has risen from approximately $200 million to $26 billion, leading to comparisons with Ethereum's growth in 2021. He stated, “ZEC of 2026 is the ETH of 2021.”

According to Hoffman, the interest in Zcash is fueled by its privacy features and concerns regarding the long-term risks quantum computing poses to Bitcoin. He argues that as Bitcoin and Ethereum face the “large capitalization curse”—where their massive market caps make high-multiple returns more difficult—investors are seeking out smaller projects like ZEC, NEAR Protocol, and Hyperliquid.

While Bitcoin maximalists often remain distant from other assets, Hoffman observes that when a sufficient number of Bitcoin investors pivot toward a single altcoin, it creates a massive capital shift. He also identified NEAR Protocol as an emerging destination within the smart contract blockchain sector, though capital remains more dispersed there compared to Zcash.