Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg has thrown fuel on the long-running debate over privacy coins, branding Zcash’s latest rally a “pump and dump” which has been rug-pulled while promoting Litecoin as his preferred privacy asset for regulated markets.

Litecoin Better Than Zcash?

In a series of posts on X, McClurg said the Zcash surge that began roughly two months ago “triggered my curiosity.” After revisiting the project for the first time since 2016–2017, he wrote that he initially “bought into the Zcash narrative” but ultimately reached two conclusions.

“Litecoin has broader reach in terms of users, and MWEB an easier tool for selecting private wallets/transactions. It is my choice for privacy in US or UK due to compliance,” he argued. By contrast, “ZEC is a pump and dump getting ready to rug-pull. Be careful out there,” he posted last week via X.

Via X, McClurg followed up by highlighting Zcash’s sharp reversal on Monday. “Zcash [is] down 50% since this post. I hope people saw the post survived the rug pull. There is still further down to go,” he wrote, attributing the move to “a stunt by bad actors.” He did not name specific counterparties, venues or structures, and his language focused on market behavior rather than protocol design.

Despite the harsh assessment of recent trading, McClurg stressed that his criticism is not a rejection of Zcash as a technology. “Btw, I have nothing against ZEC, as it was the first currency with private/public option,” he said. In the same thread he described himself as “longterm bullish on Litecoin, Monero, Dash, and Zcash in that order,” explicitly placing ZEC last in his personal privacy stack but still on the list.

The distinction he draws hinges on how privacy is implemented and how that interacts with compliance. Litecoin’s MimbleWimble Extension Block (MWEB) design adds an optional confidential layer alongside the transparent base chain, allowing users to move coins into a separate privacy domain while leaving total supply auditable. That structure, plus Litecoin’s broader distribution and exchange support, underpins McClurg’s claim that LTC is “my choice for privacy in the US or UK.”

Pressed on Monero’s role, McClurg said he has not researched it “in several years” but that, based on earlier work, he “always felt that it would be the winning currency for people in authoritarian regimes. Pure privacy.” At the same time, he added that Monero is “unfortunately likely not compliant for US citizens (not that it shouldn’t be),” capturing the tension between default privacy and current regulatory expectations.

Zcash, with its dual transparent and shielded address system, historically sat between those two poles. McClurg’s comments suggest that, in his view, the recent ZEC rally and crash reflect structural weaknesses in how the market around the asset is behaving, even if the underlying cryptography remains important.

He closed by warning that he hopes “this stunt by bad actors didn’t damage the importance of privacy chains and privacy features,” underscoring that his target is speculative excess rather than the broader push for on-chain financial privacy.

At press time, ZEC traded at $324.

As the whole crypto market bled, Zcash (ZEC) started December with a massive one-day pullback, leading the losses among top cryptocurrencies. While some market observers suggest that the altcoin is positioned for a major move, others have warned that the price risks another major correction in the coming weeks.

Zcash Loses Key Support Levels Amid Crash

Following the late Sunday market correction, Zcash has lost crucial levels and fallen to one-month lows. Over the past three months, the cryptocurrency has seen a parabolic rally, surging over 1,775% to its all-time high (ATH) of $750 in early November.

Since its ATH rally, the altcoin has been trading within the $440-$720 levels, bouncing between the range’s upper and lower boundaries amid the recent market volatility. However, the end-of-November pullback saw ZEC’s price unsuccessfully retest its key support area, closing the day below this area for the first time in nearly a month.

After losing this zone, Zcash continued to drop below other key support levels, breaking down the $400 barrier and hitting a local low of $328 on Monday morning before bouncing to the $340 area.

Amid this performance, some market observers warned that the altcoin could be in trouble and further bleeding may occur in the coming weeks. Sjuul from AltCryptoGems highlighted that ZEC registers the biggest price drops in the weekly and daily timeframes, with declines of 40.2% and 24%, respectively.

The analyst previously pointed out that the cryptocurrency lost its uptrend after falling below the EMA200, recording “a perfect bearish retest followed by a strong rejection” last week. As a result, Sjuul suggested that if Zcash did not reclaim the key moving average, the cryptocurrency would be positioned for a breakdown to lower support levels.

Similarly, Altcoin Sherpa considers that ZEC could drop another 30%-40% to the $200 area after losing the crucial $440 support. Nonetheless, he added that the price will likely see short-term bounces during its retracement.

ZEC’s Correction: Nothing To Worry About?

Mert Mumtaz, Helius co-founder and CEO, affirmed that a correction after a 700% rally “is normal,” adding that the privacy token “looks great” on higher timeframes. Notably, the cryptocurrency still shows 700% and 485% increases on the three-month and one-year timeframes.

The CEO also highlighted Zcash’s strengths: “privacy is not a narrative, private money is the entire purpose of crypto,” suggesting that the altcoin is positioned to challenge other leading cryptocurrencies like XRP in the future.

Meanwhile, another pseudonym market watcher considers that Zcash is preparing for a big move despite the correction. According to X analyst Make Sense, the cryptocurrency is at a make-or-break level after falling to the $320 mark, its first major support area below the November range.

If ZEC holds the current range, the price could reclaim its recently lost range and bounce to its $500-$600 mid-range. On the contrary, if it loses its current levels, the cryptocurrency could retest the $280 and even $200 area, he affirmed, before a trend reversal.

“This is where market makers decide the next trend: bounce early → mid-range rally or deep sweep → full trend reversal. Either way, volatility is about to explode,” he explained.

As of this writing, Zcash is trading at $338, a 20% decline in the monthly timeframe.