Zcash leads $212M in crypto liquidations as price jumps 15%

Zcash has been on an absolute tear, surging roughly 20% on September 4 to touch an intraday high near $1,023 to $1,051. That price level marks the highest ZEC has traded in nearly a decade. The move didn’t happen in a vacuum: it triggered a wave of short liquidations that helped push total crypto liquidations to approximately $212 million. The short squeeze mechanics Short liquidations on ZEC perpetual futures totaled between $34.5 million and $44 million over recent trading sessions. That’s a disproportionate share of the broader $212 million liquidation total, considering ZEC is far from the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Open interest in ZEC futures had climbed above $2 billion, with a heavy concentration of short positions. Much of that bearish positioning traced back to May 2026, when a critical vulnerability was disclosed in Zcash’s Orchard shielded pool. The bug spooked traders into loading up on shorts, creating exactly the kind of lopsided leverage that turns a modest price increase into a cascade. ZEC consistently ranked among the top assets for daily liquidations throughout September, a sign that the derivatives market around this coin remains far more leveraged t...