ZEC surges 4%, targets new weekly high

Key takeaways

• Zcash (ZEC) climbed more than 4% after developers announced progress toward proving its new privacy system is free from undetectable counterfeiting vulnerabilities.
• Project Tachyon is close to completing a mathematical verification of Zcash’s upcoming Ironwood shielded pool.

Zcash’s native token ZEC surged more than 4% on Wednesday after developers announced they are close to mathematically proving that the network’s next-generation privacy system is free from a critical class of counterfeiting vulnerabilities.

The announcement restored investor confidence following last month’s disclosure of a security flaw in Zcash’s existing shielded transaction system, helping the privacy-focused cryptocurrency reclaim the $500 level for the first time since early June.

Project Tachyon nears verification of Ironwood Shielded Pool

The latest update comes from Project Tachyon, the team leading the formal verification of Zcash’s upcoming Ironwood shielded pool, which is set to replace the current Orchard privacy pool.

According to the developers, they are close to producing a mathematical proof confirming that Ironwood does not contain undetectable counterfeiting bugs.

Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said the project is “on the verge” of completing a formal proof demonstrating that the latest generation of Zcash shielded pools is secure against this class of vulnerability.

If successful, the verification would provide stronger security guarantees for one of the network’s core privacy features.

Investor confidence was shaken last month after developers disclosed a critical vulnerability affecting Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool.

The flaw could have theoretically allowed an attacker to create counterfeit ZEC within the privacy pool without detection.

Although developers quickly patched the issue and said they found no evidence that the vulnerability had ever been exploited, Zcash’s privacy architecture made it impossible to cryptographically prove that no counterfeit coins had been created.

The disclosure triggered a sharp market reaction, sending ZEC down more than 40% in just two days.

Will ZEC reclaim $550?

The ZEC/USD 4-hour chart remains bullish and efficient following the recent rally. The momentum indicators suggest that the bulls could push ZEC’s price higher.

The RSI of 57 shows that ZEC is above the neutral zone, while the MACD lines reinforce the bullish bias.

If the bulls remain in control, ZEC could rally past the Tuesday high of $510 and set a new weekly high around $550. 

A decisive candle close above this level could allow ZEC to reclaim the $600 psychological zone in the near term. 

However, if the bears come into the picture, ZEC could retest the 4-hour TLQ at $438 over the next few hours.