Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin cautioned the Zcash community against token-based governance as ZEC dropped 22% in a day.
Zcash ZEC $363.9 24h volatility: 18.9% Market cap: $5.99 B Vol. 24h: $1.09 B recorded a whopping 22% fall within a single day, as prices dropped toward the $360 zone. The crash put pressure on traders who entered aggressive positions at higher levels and turned what once looked like a breakout to $10,000 into a deep correction.
A notable wallet that opened a massive long position of 20,386 ZEC ($7.3 million) only nine days earlier is now deep under water, locked in $4.4 million of unrealized losses. As per Lookonchain, to avoid liquidation, the trader deposited another 1.5M USDC.
The trader 0xCF90 who went long on 20,386 $ZEC($7.3M) 9 days ago is now sitting on over $4.4M in unrealized losses!
To avoid liquidation, he deposited another 1.5M $USDC to Hyperliquid 2 hours ago.https://t.co/RClzPzgk9i pic.twitter.com/t0fbuE1PI7
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 1, 2025
ZEC Price Analysis: Under $200?
ZEC is trading almost 94% beneath its all-time high, seen over nine years ago. The pullback saw the altcoin breaking below the ascending trendline on the chart and leaving traders to reassess short-term expectations.
Interestingly, analyst Crypto Patel, who previously alerted followers about the risks above the $700 area, pointed out that discipline rather than hope drives survival during drastic reversals. He now expects ZEC to reach under $200 after multiple price pullbacks.
UPDATE: $ZEC Short Wins: How I Warned You Before the Crash
Currently trading around $351, down ~50% from my entry warning above $700.
Reminder: I repeatedly said not to enter longs at $700+ due to high risk. If you avoided chasing FOMO, you saved capital. If you took a short at… https://t.co/r9JZh13oFE pic.twitter.com/lPUuEqWoml
— Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) December 1, 2025
Patel also expects a relief bounce toward $400–$450 before any deeper crash. The chart below shows a decisive break beneath trend support as the supply zone between $700 and $800 remains untouched after the rejection.
The psychological support appears near $300, but a failure there increases the probability of a drop below the $200 area.
ZEC price action inside a rising wedge | Source: TradingView
Vitalik Buterin’s Warning
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin urged the ZEC community to resist token-based governance and argued that such models concentrate influence and weaken safeguards that protect privacy.
I hope Zcash resists the dark hand of token voting.
Token voting is bad in all kinds of ways (see https://t.co/Cvl7CFVgtc ); I think it's worse than Zcash's status quo.
Privacy is exactly the sort of thing that will erode over time if left to the median token holder. https://t.co/NbRqGLOrpj
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) November 30, 2025
He drew attention to how decisions driven by median token holders tend to prioritize short-term incentives rather than core principles. For a project that is focused on privacy, the governance model determines whether the protocol stays true to its roots.
ZEC Crash Nears: PEPENODE Presale Hits $2M Mark
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