Days after the launch of Zcash, the cryptocurrency markets are still attempting to value the newly released digital currency (ZEC).
While 1 ZEC is trading at roughly twice the price of bitcoin (1 ZEC was worth 1.91 BTC, or $1,388, at press time), this means movements have calmed since tumultuous early trading sessions.
But with limited supply and high demand still propping up prices, digital currency traders largely say Zcash has a long way to go before it becomes less of a speculative investment.
Petar Zivkovkski, director of operations for leveraged bitcoin trading platform Whaleclub, described speculation as still "rampant" in the Zcash market.
As evidence, the price of Zcash declined 25% for the day's trading, a figure that was down 200% since it traded at a high last week of 3,299 BTC/1 ZEC (nearly $2m). (Zcash block explorer Zchain suggests just under 3,000 ZEC are currently in circulation).
Trying to make sense of a market with these parameters has become a challenge, traders noted.
Digital currency analyst Kevin Zhou told CoinDesk:
"ZEC is still pure speculation at this point."
Significant uncertainty
What Zcash's price movements will look like in the short-term is anyone’s guess, but it's also uncertain in the long-term.
Zivkovksi spoke to the progress made by the Zcash team, stating that they have made "great strides in cryptocurrency research". He was not alone in emphasizing the potential of the currency’s underlying technology, as ARK Invest's Chris Burniske noted Zcash's selective privacy.
The market is also likely to weigh Zcash against Monero, a cryptocurrency project that has also prided itself on privacy.
But in spite of Zcash's claims to provide anonymity, Zivkovkski emphasized that the currency’s staying power is "far from proven".
Thus far, there is no major use for Zcash, he noted.
Source:
http://www.coindesk.com/what-is-the-value-zcash-market-searches-answers/