Grayscale sees Zcash taking Bitcoin's share, pointing to three missing features

According to Grayscale Research, Zcash (ZEC) has a genuine opening to take market share from Bitcoin (BTC), pointing to three features the top digital asset does not offer.

The note surfaced alongside Grayscale's debut of the first exchange-traded product (ETP) tracking spot ZEC, and the coin was priced at levels last seen in 2018.

The Currencies Sector Is 93% Bitcoin

Through its Crypto Sectors framework, Grayscale groups digital assets according to use case. Measured by market capitalization, Bitcoin claims 93% of the Currencies category.

Zach Pandl, head of research, wrote that past challengers such as Litecoin (LTC) never posed a serious threat. According to him, deep network effects have left rival currencies small. He added that most investors do not look beyond Bitcoin in this category.

The gap between them remains large. Bitcoin was trading near $78,645, with a market cap of roughly $1.58 trillion.

Zcash is far behind, with ZEC around $790 and a market value near $13.3 billion. That puts it in 12th place overall.

The token is worth less than 1% of Bitcoin as a result. It achieved that after climbing roughly 19-fold in the past year.

Grayscale treats the gap as a competitive opening, not as evidence to the contrary.

Grayscale Points to 3 Things Bitcoin Is Missing

Pandl described Zcash as a second mover with strengths Bitcoin could not copy at launch. Financial privacy is at the top, and he linked that to the rise of surveillance powered by AI.

Next is the continued work of Zcash developers on cybersecurity risks, including the future quantum dangers to classical cryptography. The third advantage is the “intents” tech found in contemporary wallets.

“Zcash does not require widespread merchant adoption—you (or your AI agent) can use it as a private asset hub with universal connectivity through intents,” Pandl said.

Grayscale Research believes Zcash $ZEC has a real shot at capturing Bitcoin $BTC market share.
@Zcash has second mover advantages Bitcoin doesn't:
↳ Financial privacy in an era of AI-powered surveillance
↳ Cross-chain reach through $NEAR Intents
↳ Active development against…

— Grayscale (@Grayscale) August 27, 2026

Grayscale Puts ZEC at $8,109 If It Takes 10% of Bitcoin's Share

The firm modeled what those attributes could be worth. On a five-year supply estimate, ZEC would reach $1,622 at 2% of Bitcoin's market share, and $8,109 at 10%.

With ZEC around $790 on Friday, that implies potential gains of about 105% and 927%. Grayscale described the numbers as hypothetical and illustrative.

Still, the company labeled the coin high-risk and cautioned that any climb would not proceed in a straight line. Pandl accepted that Bitcoin's position rests on transparency, simplicity and liquidity.