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The privacy coin has seen a significant rally, and Ran Neuner of Crypto Banter says he has a pretty good idea about who\u2019s behind it.<\/p>\n
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Long overlooked, Zcash has exploded back into the spotlight with a price rally that caught many off guard. In the span of just one month, the token more than tripled in price from $227.79 to a multi-year high of $736.51.<\/p>\n
The rally coincided with several prominent crypto personalities, including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Arthur Hayes, started sharing bullish predictions about the token. Still, the sudden rally made many investors skeptical, questioning if there\u2019s a coordinated push to pump the token.<\/p>\n
Neuner, a prominent crypto media personality and the face behind Crypto Banter, believes he knows what\u2019s behind this push. Crypto.news spoke to him at the Crypto Content Creator Campus in Lisbon, after he mentioned Zcash (ZEC) in his speech.<\/p>\n
Crypto.news: During your talk at the CCCC in Lisbon, you said something that caught my attention. The Zcash rally, and how it\u2019s being fueled by influencers. <\/strong><\/p>\n Ran Neuner<\/strong>: It\u2019s pretty obvious what\u2019s going on. First of all, when you have collective influence and people use that influence together, it becomes incredibly powerful. Influence, by definition, is the ability to change how people act or transact. When a group of influential people collectively pushes the same message at the same time, that\u2019s a very potent force.<\/p>\n What\u2019s happening with Zcash is clearly very coordinated. A group of people came together and decided they wanted to support a new mission, a mission around privacy. These people connected around the Zcash protocol.<\/p>\n To be clear, Zcash is, from a tech standpoint, one of the best, smartest, and most sound privacy protocols in the world \u2014 and importantly, it\u2019s a compliant privacy protocol. It\u2019s been flying under the radar for a long time, but this group recognized that the time for privacy is now. They coordinated to bring the issue to the forefront, and the results are clear in the price action.<\/p>\n People might say this is just a pump-and-dump scheme. I don\u2019t believe that. I see it as a coordinated push to spotlight a message that needs to be heard. And the price action supports that \u2014 nobody\u2019s dumping. I believe these people genuinely see Zcash as the next Bitcoin (BTC).<\/p>\n I was around in 2014 and 2015, and I remember the brainpower and energy that formed around Bitcoin then. What I\u2019m seeing now around Zcash feels very similar. Many of the same people, even.<\/p>\n CN: Around which projects were they organizing before? <\/strong><\/p>\n Neuner<\/strong>: Bitcoin. Back in 2013, 2014, Bitcoin was still young and unaccepted by governments. These people weren\u2019t just building and developing the protocol; they were also working to get it accepted, to get the message out.<\/p>\n What\u2019s happening now with Zcash mirrors that energy and organization. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n CN: But after that first big surge, Bitcoin went down a lot. Could the same happen here?<\/strong><\/p>\n Neuner<\/strong>: Of course. Any asset that pumps thousands of percent is going to correct. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Zcash also has a correction. Ultimately, if you want the return, you need to weigh the risk.<\/p>\n CN: From a retail investor perspective, the big question is \u2014 is this a good time to buy?<\/strong><\/p>\n Neuner<\/strong>: That depends on how long you\u2019re willing to hold and how strong your conviction is that we need private money \u2014 and that private money will remain legal.<\/p>\n If you believe in that, like I do, then it\u2019s still cheap. When I bought my first Bitcoin at $500 or $600, I thought $800 was too expensive. Now, looking back, I wonder why I didn\u2019t buy more.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the same story here. If Zcash works as a protocol, then $600 or $700 is nothing.<\/p>\n