Daily News 19

Tag: Grayscale Research

  • Grayscale Says Bitcoin Is Undergoing a Significant Change: “Approaching Gold!” What It Means for BTC

    Grayscale Says Bitcoin Is Undergoing a Significant Change: “Approaching Gold!” What It Means for BTC

    Bitcoin has climbed above $80,000 in recent days, prompting some analysts to suggest that the cryptocurrency may be entering the early stages of a bull market. The latest assessment comes from Grayscale Research Head Zach Pandl, who highlighted a significant change in Bitcoin’s relationship with traditional assets.

    Discussing Bitcoin’s correlation with gold, Pandl noted that its 90-day correlation with gold had increased from near zero at the beginning of the year to more than 50%. At the same time, Bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq 100 had declined from above 60% to approximately 33%.

    According to Pandl, the shift suggests that investors are beginning to view Bitcoin not only as a high-risk technology asset, but also as an asset defined by scarcity, monetary independence and store-of-value characteristics.

    US Fiscal Concerns Put Scarce Assets Back in Focus

    Pandl said one of the main factors strengthening the relationship between Bitcoin and gold is the outlook for US government finances.

    The US federal debt has surpassed $40 trillion, while persistent budget deficits and rising yields on long-term Treasury bonds are renewing concerns about the dollar’s long-term purchasing power. Against this backdrop, “depreciation trading,” which involves shifting toward scarce assets to hedge against currency devaluation, is gaining renewed attention.

    Pandl argued that Bitcoin stands out in this environment because it is a scarce asset that can be valued alongside gold. Its appeal is supported by the absence of a central issuer, transparent supply rules and a maximum supply capped at 21 million coins.

    The Grayscale executive concluded that current macroeconomic conditions could create a more favorable market environment for Bitcoin and other scarce digital assets.

    This is not investment advice.

  • Grayscale Says Zcash Can Challenge Bitcoin’s Network Effects as Privacy Demand Grows

    Grayscale Says Zcash Can Challenge Bitcoin’s Network Effects as Privacy Demand Grows

    Grayscale Research Positions Zcash as Potential Bitcoin Challenger Amid AI Privacy Concerns

    Zcash could emerge as a meaningful competitor to Bitcoin’s dominance among digital assets as rapid artificial intelligence adoption increases demand for financial privacy and raises concerns over AI-powered surveillance, according to a new research report from Grayscale.

    Second-Mover Advantages in Privacy Technology

    Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl argues that Zcash ($ZEC) possesses “second mover advantages” that could help it challenge Bitcoin’s (BTC) entrenched network effects—a feat previous alternatives such as Litecoin (LTC) have failed to achieve. Central to Pandl’s argument is financial privacy: Zcash’s ability to shield transaction information could become increasingly valuable as AI systems grow more capable of analyzing financial activity at scale.

    Valuation Gap Suggests Upside Potential

    The report follows a roughly 19-fold increase in $ZEC over the past year. Despite those gains, Zcash remains valued at less than 1% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization, a disparity Grayscale sees as evidence of further upside if Zcash can capture market share. The research notes that Zcash could be valued at more than $4,000 if its market capitalization reached 5% of Bitcoin’s. Source: Grayscale

    Pandl acknowledged that Bitcoin’s liquidity and entrenched network remain powerful defenses of its dominant position. Grayscale also warned that Zcash remains a high-risk investment and that any further gains could be volatile and uneven.

    Institutional Capital Flows Into Zcash Ecosystem

    Interest in the Zcash ecosystem is broadening alongside $ZEC‘s strong price performance. Nasdaq-listed privacy technology company Cypherpunk Technologies recently expanded its Zcash exposure by acquiring a mining fleet from Winklevoss Capital in a $33.33 million equity-based transaction.

    The operation is already online across U.S. facilities, producing about 4.2 GSol/s of Equihash hashrate, or roughly 18% of the Zcash network’s total computing power. Cypherpunk said the deal made its mining arm the network’s largest active fleet.