TLDR
- ZEC has gained over 16% in the past week, trading around $552–$560
- The Ironwood shielded pool upgrade is scheduled to activate on mainnet around July 28
- A long-standing counterfeiting vulnerability in the Orchard pool was disclosed in early June
- Open interest in ZEC futures rose over 12% in 24 hours, briefly topping $750 million
- The key resistance level to beat is $644, with $675–$680 the next major channel boundary
Zcash has climbed more than 16% over the past seven days, with ZEC trading around $552 on Tuesday after an 11% single-day gain, according to CoinGecko data.
The token recovered from lows near $368 in late June, posting gains of over 56% from that local bottom in under three weeks.
Two key resistance levels have now been cleared. The $500 supply zone and the $560 retracement level have both been reclaimed, leaving $644 as the next major hurdle on the four-hour chart.
A move past $644 would flip the short-term structure bullish, with $690 and $750 as the next targets traders are watching.
Ironwood Upgrade and Network Migration
At the centre of the rally is the planned Ironwood shielded pool upgrade, set to go live on mainnet around July 28.
UPDATE: Over the last couple weeks we've made huge progress on Ironwood activation in Zcash!
1. All of the consensus rule changes have been implemented, and have been undergoing auditing for some time now. Specifications / ZIPs are published and nearing their final state.
2.… https://t.co/rjQSHM1uox— Sean Bowe (@ebfull) July 2, 2026
Developers disclosed in early June that a long-standing counterfeiting vulnerability had been found inside the Orchard shielded pool, which forms part of Zcash’s core privacy infrastructure.
Project Tachyon and Zcash core developers are now completing formal mathematical proofs to verify that Ironwood removes the vulnerability without introducing new risks.
At the same time, the legacy Zcashd full-node client reaches end of life on July 18, with operators migrating to the newer Zebra node software.
Market Conditions Add Fuel
US CPI data for June came in below expectations, with headline inflation at 3.5% versus forecasts of 3.8%.
The softer reading reduced rate-hike expectations, encouraging buying across risk assets. Bitcoin moved from around $62,000 to above $64,000, providing broader market support.
Open interest in ZEC futures briefly rose above $750 million, up over 12% in 24 hours.
On the daily chart, RSI sits at around 62, above its moving average but below the overbought threshold of 70. On-balance volume has turned higher during July, showing accumulation alongside the price move.
Analyst Ali Charts noted on X that ZEC “keeps climbing,” pointing to the upper boundary of the channel at $675–$680 as the next major level to watch.
Zcash $ZEC keeps climbing.
The next major level I'm watching is the upper boundary of the channel at $675–$680. https://t.co/l7Ei0HhkaB pic.twitter.com/1xCy5elaT7
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) July 16, 2026
ZEC is trading near the upper Bollinger Band around $566, with the middle band near $464. The Chaikin Money Flow on the three-day chart remained above +0.05, signalling buying pressure.
The most recent data puts ZEC up 1.6% on Wednesday, July 15, with the $644 level remaining the key line for bulls to clear.
