As projections anticipated, Bitcoin’s difficulty adjusted downward at block 
height 941472, falling 7.76% and easing the path for miners to find blocks 
over the next two weeks. The network has now logged six difficulty adjustments 
this year, with the metric sitting nearly 10% below its level at the close of 
2025. Lower Bitcoin Difficulty Offers […]

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops 7.76% as Hashprice Struggles to Support Miners

Grayscale is making a case for Zcash as the most credible challenger to 
Bitcoin’s dominance in the digital currency segment, arguing that a relatively 
small shift in market share could translate into outsized upside for the 
privacy-focused asset. In a March 18 research note, Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s 
Head of Research, frames the opportunity in stark terms. Bitcoin still 
accounts for roughly 90% of the “Currencies Crypto Sector,” a segment the firm 
estimates at $1.6 trillion across fifteen assets. Zcash, by comparison, 
represents just a fraction of that total. But Pandl suggests that the gap may 
not be structural. Related Reading: Zcash Is Crypto’s Most Mispriced Asset, 
Cypherpunk CIO Says “Bitcoin was the first decentralized digital currency and 
is still by far the largest as measured by market capitalization,” he writes. 
“But there are other blockchains with a ‘digital currency’ use case.” Within 
that competitive set, Grayscale sees Zcash as uniquely positioned to gain 
ground over time. Grayscale Says Zcash Has 18x Upside The core of the thesis 
rests on a capability Bitcoin fundamentally lacks. While Bitcoin transactions 
remain fully transparent on a public ledger, Zcash offers shielded 
transactions that obscure the sender, receiver, and transaction amount. Pandl 
argues this distinction is not merely technical, but market-defining. “Zcash 
offers shielded transactions that hide senders, receivers, and balances,” he 
notes, adding that “privacy will be essential, in our view, for certain types 
of users and transactions, and Bitcoin cannot meet this demand.” The 
implication is clear: if demand for private, censorship-resistant payments 
increases, whether driven by individuals, institutions, or specific 
jurisdictions, Zcash operates in a segment where Bitcoin is structurally 
limited. Rather than competing head-on across all use cases, it targets a 
subset of transactions where transparency becomes a constraint rather than a 
feature. Grayscale’s second pillar is less about design and more about 
trajectory. Zcash, now approaching a decade in operation, is described as 
entering a new phase marked by rising adoption of its privacy features and 
renewed capital inflows. “Zcash is almost 10 years old but seems to be 
entering a new chapter,” Pandl writes. “Use of its shielding technology is 
picking up, underscoring market interest for privacy-preserving digital 
currencies. And new capital is entering the ecosystem to support wallet 
development and Zcash mining.” The valuation argument follows directly from 
those two dynamics. Zcash’s ZEC token currently sits at around $4 billion in 
market capitalization, representing approximately 0.3% of the broader digital 
currency segment. Related Reading: Zcash Is The Last Possible 1000x In Crypto, 
Venture Capitalist Says Grayscale’s scenario is deliberately conservative in 
its assumptions but aggressive in its implications. If Zcash were to capture 
just 5% of that same segment, its valuation would increase roughly 
eighteenfold. The math hinges less on absolute growth in crypto markets and 
more on relative positioning within the existing category. Pandl is explicit 
about the trade-offs. Zcash, he notes, is “smaller and more volatile than 
Bitcoin and therefore has a higher risk profile.” The upside case is tied to a 
reallocation of market share, not a guaranteed expansion of demand. That view 
is not isolated. Several prominent figures have recently outlined similarly 
asymmetric scenarios for Zcash. Cypherpunk Technologies CIO Will McEvoy has 
described Zcash as “crypto’s most mispriced asset,” while Alliance DAO co- 
founder Qiao Wang has called ZEC the “last 1000x in crypto.” BitMEX co-founder 
Arthur Hayes has forecast ZEC reaching $1,000 as a “first stop,” with a 
longer-term target of $10,000. At press time, ZEC traded at $232.93. Featured 
image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Grayscale Predicts 18x Upside For Zcash If This Happens

Bitcoin (BTC) has settled back into the familiar consolidation band between 
roughly $65,000 and $74,000 after a short-lived attempt to clear higher 
resistance walls at around $76,000 earlier in the week failed. Trading around 
$69,000 at the time of writing, on-chain analytics from Glassnode and market 
commentary from analysts suggest the market is likely to remain in an 
accumulation phase through the end of March, with several indicators pointing 
to lower near-term volatility but heightened defensive positioning. Rising 
Demand For Downside Protection Glassnode’s posts on X (formerly Twitter) 
highlight record-high positioning in derivatives markets: options open 
interest reached a new all-time high ahead of the current quarter’s expiry. 
That elevated positioning may still reflect short-term hedging rather than 
directional conviction, and the firm noted that the picture of refreshed 
positioning and sentiment should become clearer after the March 27 expiry. 
Volatility metrics are showing signs of normalization. At-the-money implied 
volatility (1‑week ATM IV) has cooled from about 70% to 53%, and longer-dated 
maturities have fallen roughly 10 vols from recent highs. This drop in implied 
volatility indicates traders are expecting less dramatic price swings in the 
immediate term. Related Reading: AI Model Ranks Bitcoin, XRP, And ETH For 
2026: Expected Returns And Price Targets Despite falling IV, skew measures 
have widened back toward the downside. After the failed breakout to $75,000, 
demand for downside protection reemerged, and 25‑delta skew moved into the 
15–20% range. The renewed premium for put options reflects caution among 
participants who are seeking protection against a reversal. That caution shows 
up in flow dynamics. Glassnode reported that the put/call ratio flagged 
limited momentum to sustain a push above $75,000. On the way up, flows were 
dominated by put buying above $72,000—a classic sign that the market was 
fading the breakout—while the pullback was accompanied by a brief surge in 
call purchases. In the most recent 24‑hour tape, put buys led the way with a 
30.7% share of activity, and calls lagged at roughly 10%, underscoring a 
defensive tilt after the rejection at $75,000. Consolidation Rather Than 
Immediate Breakout Gamma positioning has also been adjusted. For the Q1 
expiry, short gamma exposure around the 75,000 strike contracted from $3.9 
billion to $2.4 billion in under two days, a $1.5 billion unwind as prices 
moved away from that level. Lower gamma exposure reduces the need for dealers 
to dynamically hedge, which in turn can dampen directional flows and help 
explain part of the pullback. Relatedly, the volatility risk premium (VRP) has 
reset. Over the past week, short-gamma positions had been profitable because 
implied volatility exceeded realized volatility, but realized volatility 
increased during the selloff, compressing the VRP. With VRP near equilibrium, 
option prices now look more fairly valued—another indicator that the market 
may be settling into a consolidation range rather than preparing for an 
immediate breakout. Bitcoin Nears Key Multi‑Year Support When it comes to full 
price analysis, market expert Ali Martinez recently flagged a longer-term 
technical backdrop that may be constructive. He noted Bitcoin is approaching a 
multi-year trendline that has supported major advances in previous cycles. 
Related Reading: BTQ Unveils First Bitcoin Upgrade Testnet Designed To Thwart 
Quantum Attacks The expert asserted that every touch of this foundational 
support over the past nine years has preceded significant rallies: the 2017 
parabolic run, the 2020 rebound from the COVID crash, and the 2022 recovery 
after the FTX collapse. That trendline now lives between roughly $60,000 and 
$56,000; if it holds, Martinez believes the area could become more than just a 
bounce zone and serve as a potential launchpad for the next sustained bull 
phase. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Holds At $69,000— Glassnode Data Shows What To Expect Through Late March

Unlike Bitwise, Grayscale doesn’t plan to incorporate staking for its 
Hyperliquid ETF but hasn’t ruled out integrating it in the future.

Grayscale files S-1 for Hyperliquid ETF, joining Bitwise, 21Shares

Digital asset adoption has become an immediate priority, with 72% of global 
finance leaders warning that action is needed now to stay competitive as 
stablecoins, custody, and tokenization rapidly move into core financial 
operations. Digital Asset Adoption Surges Across Global Finance Sector 
Mounting competitive pressure is pushing financial institutions toward digital 
asset adoption. Ripple published […]

Cryptocurrency price in EUR