Recently, the brightest star in the crypto world is none other than Zcash. This privacy coin, once forgotten in the corner, has suddenly exploded, with its price soaring from $366 on December 5 to $451 on December 12, an increase of 23%. Within 24 hours, it skyrocketed by 13 to 16 percentage points, directly claiming the top spot on the growth leaderboard. It's important to note that this occurred while Bitcoin and Ethereum were both in a sideways market. Zcash has proven what it means to take off against the trend with its strength.

Behind this surge is a super significant piece of data: Zcash's hidden supply has first broken through 25 to 30% of the circulating supply. What does this mean? In simple terms, it means that more and more people are starting to use Zcash's zero-knowledge proof technology for completely anonymous transactions. The larger the anonymous pool, the stronger the privacy. Privacy enthusiasts are thrilled, as having a tool that can genuinely protect privacy is an absolute necessity in this era of pervasive surveillance.

Institutional funds have also begun flooding in. Reliance Global directly exchanged its entire treasury for ZEC, and Cypherpunk splurged $18 million to acquire 1.43% of the circulating supply. Grayscale's Zcash trust fund has also reached $151.6 million in managed assets. These smart investments are not just for fun; they are focused on the gradual recognition of optional privacy by regulators, coupled with increasing global concerns about surveillance. Zcash's design, which can be both transparent and private, is simply perfect.

Discussions about Zcash on social media have exploded. The founder personally stepped in to promote the restoration of people's natural right to privacy against mass surveillance. The Arkham platform has even launched a tagging feature for Zcash transactions, covering a large number of known entities' shielded and non-shielded activities. These improvements in tools allow ordinary users to easily enjoy privacy protection, no longer just high-tech jargon.

Of course, market sentiment has also shown divergence. On one side, privacy advocates are cheering, while on the other side, there is a debate comparing Zcash with Monero, arguing over who is the true king of privacy. However, from the data, Zcash's market value has already climbed to 27th place, reaching $7.5 billion, with an increase of as much as 800% this year. Although the focus this week is on the shielded adoption rate, this report card is enough to silence all doubters.