I’ve talked about ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 quite a lot since it was sitting around the $6M–$8M MC range, so I probably don’t need to introduce this one again My original plan was to wait for the first wave to reset and start building a position around the dip ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 eventually came right into the $6M–$8M zone, wicked down to around $5M, reclaimed its previous ATH around $18M–$20M, and has now broken above $25M, briefly pushing close to $30M From the dip to the recent high, that was nearly a 5x move But instead of just looking at the chart, I think the more interesting question is why the market keeps repricing ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 so aggressively, especially on this latest leg 1. The product and narrative are expanding The first wave was pretty easy to understand. The market was mainly buying the Snowmoon + Vitalik lore But since then, the team has kept shipping From the original Zip/Unzip, Burn to Speak, and Doorstep, they’ve expanded the flow so users can zip ETH into 0xbow’s Privacy Pool and come out with private DAI through One thing worth clarifying: the dedicated DAI and USDC pools are not live yet. The team has only listed them under “Next,” so I’m not including anything that hasn’t shipped in the current thesis On October 2, the team also launched a private AI chat where users can interact with AI and pay using ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 or zipped ETH, with the flow tied into zkAPI and the broader private AI payments direction I haven’t seen enough users yet to call this adoption, but it gives ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 another narrative to build around What started as a literary meme around Snowmoon is now trying to expand into a broader privacy ecosystem across transfers, payments, messaging, and AI 2. External attention is starting to show up This is probably one of the most important pieces behind the latest leg Earlier, publicly mentioned @zipcoincash and the use case of privately funding a account through Zipcoin Then on October 3, trent.eth / Trent Van Epps, who is involved with Protocol Guild and previously worked at the Ethereum Foundation, publicly asked how he could get in touch with the team. The team later replied that they had DM’d him To be very clear : > This is not an endorsement > It does not mean the Ethereum Foundation is behind ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 > Vitalik still has not endorsed ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 But the timing is interesting Someone close to the Ethereum core ecosystem actively reached out to the team while attention was accelerating, right around the same leg where ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 pushed close to $30M I think the market is no longer just buying the story of “Vitalik wrote Snowmoon and someone created a token around it” It’s starting to price in the fact that the team keeps shipping, the privacy narrative is expanding, and people/projects outside the team are starting to notice what they’re building 3. An ecosystem around ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 is starting to form Several tokens on Stockereum have started pairing directly against ZC, with $SC / Silverchat being the most notable one so far SC/ZC previously touched around the $1M MC area. The last time I checked, it was below that level at roughly $800K MC, with solid volume but still relatively thin liquidity In theory, if more tokens start using ZC as a quote asset, that could create additional demand for ZC But I’m not calling this a major flywheel yet The pairs are still relatively small. I want to see more projects using ZC and, more importantly, real growth in volume and liquidity first 4. The buyback thesis has changed This is an important update Previously, 10% of protocol fees were allocated toward buying back ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 The team later announced that this 10% protocol fee allocation would instead go toward funding development, ecosystem growth, and privacy initiatives Because of that, I’m no longer using protocol fees and ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 buybacks as a major part of the bull case Burn to Speak still reduces supply, but that’s a separate mechanism And my view remains the same : Team burns are not the same as organic demand I care much more about users actually using the product and organically burning ZC than I do about the team burning more tokens themselves 5. The chart is confirming the attention The chart structure is also an important part of this move ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 first ran to an ATH around $18M–$20M, reset all the way back to $5M–$8M, built a base, reclaimed the previous ATH, then broke above $25M and briefly pushed close to $30M Once the old ATH broke at the same time new catalysts were appearing, the market entered price discovery and FOMO started kicking in So if I had to summarize what’s driving this leg, I’d point to a few things : > The Snowmoon narrative still has attention > The team keeps shipping and expanding the privacy product > started talking about Zipcoin > Private AI opened up another narrative > Attention from people close to the Ethereum ecosystem started appearing > An ecosystem around ZC is beginning to form > The ATH breakout pushed the chart into price discovery But even after this move, one part of my previous thesis hasn’t changed : Price is still moving faster than adoption At the previous snapshot, the ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 privacy pool was still sitting at around 19 deposits I still haven’t seen deposits expand meaningfully toward 50 and then 100+, enough activity from wallets outside the team to call this a real usage wave, or significant organic Burn to Speak activity. The private AI product also still needs to prove that it can attract real users In other words, the market is currently paying a premium for what ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 could become, faster than users are actually adopting the product 6. What am I watching next? The closest catalyst is the roadmap the team said would come this weekend I want to see concrete deliverables, a clear timeline, and how they plan to use the 10% protocol fee allocation after the recent change, rather than just more narrative The team also said a public advisor will be announced within the next few weeks. For me, simply having an advisor doesn’t matter much. What matters is who they are and what they can actually contribute I’m also still watching : > Whether deposits move from 19 to 50 and eventually 100+ > Whether more wallets outside the team actually use Zip/Unzip > Whether ZipTeller/private payments start seeing real transactions > Whether organic burns continue growing > Whether the private AI chat starts attracting actual users > Whether ZC-paired tokens continue expanding in volume and liquidity Vitalik remains the wildcard ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 is not Vitalik’s token and he still hasn’t endorsed it. If he ever interacts with the concept or implementation, that could obviously become a major catalyst But I still see that as a bonus, not the thesis So the way I see the entire move is pretty simple : Wave 1, the market bought the Snowmoon lore The next wave, the market started buying the product and external attention This current leg, the market is front-running the possibility that ethereum:0x4e67db19044549ff420860834c91b45bad298722 could grow into a much larger privacy ecosystem But if there’s going to be another major and sustainable leg from here, eventually it still needs to be confirmed by one thing : Users I already have my position from the $6M–$8M range, so at $25M+ I have no reason to chase From here, I care less about predicting the next candle and more about whether the fundamentals can catch up with the valuation The chart gave us the entry. The product and attention gave us the breakout. Now I’m waiting for users to confirm the rest of the thesis 0x4E67DB19044549fF420860834c91b45BaD298722