Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, remained volatile on Oct. 17 after surrendering much of its previous recovery, closing near $1,149 on Friday and reversing Thursday's advance above $1,200. The price action followed substantial futures liquidations and continued weakness from September's highs, just as developers prepare for an Oct. 20 decision on the NU7 network upgrade.

Key Points

• Zcash struggled to sustain its Oct. 15 rebound as analysts identified resistance near $1,288.
• ZEC futures recorded nearly $18 million in reported liquidations, while analysts monitored support around $1,080 and $1,059.
• Zcash developers will review NU7 mainnet activation on Oct. 20, ahead of a proposed Nov. 5 rollout.

ZEC Approaches $1,288 Resistance

ZEC rose 6% over 24 hours to trade near $1,235 before pulling back. The increase followed an Oct. 15 sell-off that pushed the token toward $1,087, a decline amplified by forced closures in the futures market. CoinGlass data cited by the exchange put liquidations near $20 million, including $17.8 million from long positions. Liquidations occur when exchanges automatically close leveraged positions once margin is no longer sufficient, a mechanism that can amplify short-term price swings.

The recovery has not erased the wider correction. Zcash traded above $1,600 in late September before falling through early October. By Oct. 16, the token remained below those earlier levels despite recovering part of the previous session's losses.

On the one-hour chart, analyst Eric Van Tassel identified $1,200 to $1,288 as a possible recovery range, noting that a descending trendline runs through the area and creates a price barrier for buyers (1, 2). A sustained move above $1,288 would mark a breakthrough of that resistance, while another rejection would leave the current recovery unconfirmed.

Bearish Charts Point to Multiple Support Levels

The four-hour chart also shows a possible head-and-shoulders formation. The pattern would gain bearish confirmation if ZEC broke below its neckline, and one projection places a deeper target near $727 based on a Fibonacci retracement.

Trader AstroCryptoGuru identified resistance near $1,229 following a rejection along a falling trendline, marking $1,080 and $1,059 as lower support levels (X post). Those prices sit closer to the Oct. 15 low and would come into view if sellers regained control.

MaisonCypher presented a separate daily-chart scenario using the Ichimoku Cloud, with that analysis placing a possible retest near $879 as ZEC moved toward lower cloud support.

Meanwhile, Crypto Patel reported a roughly 36% decline from a previously marked $2,100 selling zone and maintained longer-range bearish targets of $641 and $150, conditional on further weakness (X post).

For now, ZEC charts place the immediate test at $1,288, with nearby downside levels around $1,080.

Santiment data showed that ZEC gained roughly 48% between Sept. 15 and Sept. 26 before returning most of those gains by Oct. 14. The token closed that day near $1,155, about 5% below the start of the rally. With most of September's rally gains returned, the Oct. 20 review now stands as the network's next scheduled development milestone.

NU7 Review Scheduled for Oct. 20

Zcash developers plan to review Network Upgrade 7 on Oct. 20 after launching the upgrade on testnet on Oct. 4. The review will determine the mainnet activation schedule, with Nov. 5 listed as a target rather than a confirmed launch date.

NU7 aims to shorten block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. If activated, that change would cut the typical wait for a transaction's first confirmation. The upgrade will also retire spending support for Sprout, an older shielded address system introduced at Zcash's 2016 launch. Newer shielded address formats added by later upgrades are unaffected. Holders with funds in Sprout addresses need to transfer them into supported address types before activation to keep the funds spendable.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Source: The Market Periodical