Market Data 
Zcash [$ZEC] faced aggressive short positioning among the Binance top traders, while Garrett Jin’s massive $ZEC short remained deeply underwater after the recent price rally.
As per CoinGlass analytics, the short accounts represented nearly 72.05%, compared with only 27.95% holding long positions. Accordingly, the Long/Short Ratio stood at 0.39 as of writing, highlighting a strong preference for a downside price trend.
The positioning implies that the top traders remain skeptical of $ZEC sustaining its elevated price structure. However, Garrett Jin’s position highlighted the substantial risks already confronting traders who shorted $ZEC earlier.
Garrett, a prominent figure in crypto trading and executive circles, holds a 39.76K $ZEC short position, valued at around $44.90 million. He entered at around $576.30, while Zcash traded near $1,128.58 at press time. The price difference, therefore, had already pushed his unrealized loss to around $21.98 million.
However, his price of liquidation sits a bit higher at the $2,540.50 level, reducing immediate liquidation concerns. Still, a renewed upside price move could deepen his losses and place greater pressure on traders with similar positions as well.
Taker buyers challenge the bearish crowd
While the top traders favored shorts, $ZEC’s spot activity provided a contrasting view of the underlying market demand.
As of press time, the 90-day Spot Taker CVD indicator remained buyer-dominant, showing aggressive buyers continued controlling the cumulative taker activity.
This divergence matters since the dominant short positioning had not translated into equivalent aggression on the spot market side. Instead, the buyers continued to absorb the available supply despite expectations for a deeper price correction.
Jin’s mounting unrealized loss further highlights the risk created when bearish exposure encounters continued aggressive buying activity.
Cooling derivatives weaken short-side confirmation
The broader derivatives market participation cooled considerably despite the strong short bias among the Binance top traders.
At the time of analysis, $ZEC Open Interest (OI) had fallen 11.49% to $2.41 billion in 24 hours, showing decreased outstanding leverage exposure.
Besides, the derivatives trading volume also dropped 42.06% to $5.99 billion in 24 hours as well, reflecting a huge contraction in trading activity. Those declines suggested traders had limited their derivatives exposure rather than aggressively adding fresh leveraged positions.
Therefore, the short-heavy account ratio lacks confirmation from expanding OI and stronger derivatives turnover. Historically, a rising bearish exposure alongside a growing OI would have provided stronger evidence of fresh shorts entering the market.
Instead, the falling OI rather reflects broader position reductions as speculative activity cools after $ZEC’s sharp price expansion.
Can $ZEC’s FVG preserve wave five?
On the daily timeframe, $ZEC has entered a pullback phase on a broader ‘Elliot Wave’ structure after its latest expansion failed to clear the $1,256.68 resistance level.
At the time of writing, Zcash traded near $1,128.58, placing the fair value gap (FVG) directly below the current market price. Notably, the ‘Elliott Wave’ structure identifies the pullback as a potential Wave (4) correction before another price expansion.
Most importantly, the FVG extends toward the $1,023.60 support area, hence creating an important area for the bullish technical structure.
On the indicator side, the MACD remained constructive despite the ongoing price retreat. The MACD stood at 138.95, above its signal line at 112.00, while the histogram remained positive at 26.94.
The correction, therefore, has not yet invalidated the broader bullish technical structure. If buyers persistently defend the FVG, $ZEC could pursue Wave (5) and continue placing pressure on the crowded shorts.
Final Summary
- $ZEC shorts remain dominant, but persistent taker buying continues challenging bearish positioning.
- Holding the FVG could revive the upside pressure and expose the crowded short positions again.
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