Zcash (CRYPTO: ZEC) surged 21% after Foundry, the world’s largest Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining pool, announced Wednesday it would add ZEC support, marking a significant institutional signal from a pool that has historically mined only Bitcoin.

The Triple Catalyst

Foundry’s decision to add Zcash support represents a major shift for the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool.

The pool has never mined anything other than Bitcoin, making the ZEC addition a notable institutional signal.

Meanwhile, the quantum-resistant angle is gaining traction. 

Google recently demonstrated a 20x more efficient implementation of Shor’s algorithm, reigniting conversations about Bitcoin’s long-term vulnerability to quantum attacks. 

Zcash has been building post-quantum cryptography into its roadmap and is getting cited directly in those threads.

The Tachyon upgrade is also driving interest. Zcash developers are pushing toward the upgrade, which is designed to bring sub-second private transactions to mobile. If it ships, it could change Zcash from a privacy asset people hold to one people actually use.

The Technical Picture

ZEC is breaking cleanly above the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement level at $326.04. This level had acted as resistance for months.

The next Fibonacci target is the 0.5 level at $369.58, followed by 0.618 at $413.12. All four EMAs have been crossed to the upside in quick succession.

The RSI at 72.46 has entered overbought territory, meaning a short-term pullback or consolidation around $310-$326 is likely before any continuation higher.

Key support sits at $326.04 (0.382 Fib), then $279 (100 EMA). Resistance clusters at $369.58 (0.5 Fib), then $413.12 (0.618 Fib), then $475.11 (0.786 Fib).

The Downside Risk

Zcash’s liquidation heatmap points to greater downside risk. Binance’s ZECUSDT contracts show roughly $50.56 million in cumulative long positions could be wiped out if the price drops below $260. 

In comparison, only $3.81 million worth of cumulative short liquidations would occur if price rallies above $380.

The heatmap highlights $305-$306 as the largest single liquidation pocket, with about $1.76 million in leveraged positions clustered in that range.

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