Key Takeaways:
Zcash surged by more than 1,700% since September, attracting renewed market attention. The rally coincided with viral debates on social media about a Zcash developer’s identity. The discussion unexpectedly resurfaced theories linking developer Daira-Emma Hopwood to Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Some traders see Zcash as a return to crypto’s privacy-focused roots, while others warn the token may be overbought.Zcash (ZEC) has climbed from about $40 in early September to roughly $750, a 1,700% jump that few saw coming. Such explosive moves are usually seen in meme coins, not privacy-focused projects from the mid-2010s. So what exactly is happening with Zcash?
Even more intriguingly, recent discussions in the crypto community have linked Zcash not only to Bitcoin (BTC) but also to Satoshi Nakamoto himself.
Source: TradingViewZcash Correction Following Founder Rumors
On Nov. 8, Zcash price suddenly dropped from about $720 to $513, a nearly 30% decline. While that pullback is modest compared to the coin’s seventeenfold rise, it coincided with social media controversy surrounding one of the project’s early developers.
A rumor began circulating on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that the Zcash founder was a transgender person. The viral post included an old interview clip, which quickly drew mixed reactions and, in some cases, transphobic comments.
It was later revealed that the person in the video was not Zcash founder but Daira-Emma Hopwood, a cryptographer and longtime Zcash developer. The interview, originally published in August 2024, resurfaced amid the project’s sudden rise in popularity.
Source: XThe Satoshi Connection
The controversy took an unexpected turn when users pointed out that Daira-Emma Hopwood might have ties to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s mysterious creator.
Rumors connecting Hopwood to Satoshi stem from overlapping cryptographic research and early academic references. Before joining Zcash, Hopwood published several papers on privacy-enhancing techniques such as key blinding and group signatures. These same concepts appeared in Satoshi’s forum discussions around 2010, and one archived post even cited Hopwood’s academic work.
Both also share a British background and a preference for U.K. spelling, further fueling speculation. While the evidence remains circumstantial, the similarities between Hopwood’s research and Bitcoin’s early design have kept this theory alive in parts of the crypto community.
‘Zcash Is Satoshi’s True Vision for Bitcoin’
Zcash is now being described as the “better” version of Bitcoin and, in some ways, as a counterpoint to today’s mainstream crypto market. It is one of the few projects in the privacy sector that has regained attention this year. Some analysts believe this ideological stance partly explains the token’s sharp rise. Certain investors see Zcash as a return to the ideals Satoshi Nakamoto first described.
Not everyone agrees with this view. Some crypto traders have pointed out that Zcash “is not private” and have warned about the project’s centralization risks, including control over a large percentage of mining blocks.
Another concern is that the token may now be overbought. The rally has been unusually strong in recent weeks, even as the broader crypto market remains cautious after the Oct. 10 sell-off. Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant, highlighted this pattern, noting that speculative excess may still be driving the price action.
Zcash Arrives at the Right Time
Despite the uncertainty, Zcash seems to have resurfaced at an ideal moment. Interest in privacy coins is growing again amid new regulations such as the MiCA framework in the European Union. At the same time, investors and traders remain wary of broader crypto volatility.
In this environment, ZEC offers something different: a mix of ideology, nostalgia, and technical credibility. Many retail traders entered the market even after the price surpassed $400, showing that a small spark of optimism is still enough to draw money back into crypto.
For a market that seemed to have lost faith, Zcash’s rebound might signal that some optimism still remains and that investors have not completely given up on crypto’s potential.
The post Debate Over Zcash Developer’s Identity Sparks Rumors They Created Bitcoin appeared first on Cryptonews.
