Updated 24 September 2026, 13:06 UTC
Zcash (ZEC): $1,493.81 – down 7.8 percent on the day, up 10.2 percent on the week and up 77.2 percent on the month (CoinGecko, 24 September 13:06 UTC).
Verdict: Kraken finishes force-selling UAE residents out of Zcash and six other assets tomorrow, 25 September. The balances involved are far too small to move a token turning over $1.39bn a day, so treat this as a custody-risk story rather than a supply shock. The level that matters for price is $1,488, where Invezz counts roughly $44m of long liquidation leverage stacked directly beneath spot.
Key facts
- Kraken’s own notice lists seven assets delisted for UAE residents: XMR, DASH, USDD, DAI, USDS, USDE and ZEC.
- The timeline in that notice: margin positions closed 15 June, 14:00 UTC; deposits and trading halted 16 June, 14:00 UTC; withdrawals ceased 14 September, 14:00 UTC; remaining balances liquidated 15 to 25 September.
- Kraken’s stated reason is its “routine asset reviews”. The notice names no regulator.
- Only customers residing in the UAE are affected. This is not a delisting for the rest of Kraken’s book.
- ZEC is the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation at $25.3bn, on 24-hour volume of $1.39bn (CoinGecko).
- Grayscale’s spot Zcash ETF (ZCSH) held 596,268.94 ZEC as of 18 September, up 28.4 percent since its 25 August NYSE Arca launch (Cryptobriefing).
- Kraken has not disclosed the size of the UAE balances being liquidated.
What actually happens tomorrow
Kraken’s delisting notice for the UAE runs a four-step sequence, and the last step ends on 25 September. Margin positions in the seven assets were closed on 15 June at 14:00 UTC. Deposits and trading stopped the following day at the same hour. Withdrawals – the last exit – closed at 14:00 UTC on 14 September. Anything a UAE-resident customer still held in XMR, DASH, USDD, DAI, USDS, USDE or ZEC after that point is being liquidated by Kraken between 15 and 25 September.
The practical consequence is that a UAE holder who missed the 14 September withdrawal cut-off has no remedy. They cannot trade the position, cannot move it to self-custody, and cannot choose the price at which it is sold. Kraken’s notice does not commit to a quote currency for the proceeds ahead of execution.
The timing is uncomfortable for the ZEC holders in that group. Zcash has run 77.2 percent in thirty days and roughly 2,661 percent over twelve months. Being force-sold out of a position mid-rally, on a date set in June, is the kind of outcome that exchange terms of service permit and that holders rarely price in.
“Routine asset review” does not explain the list
Kraken cites no regulator. But the seven names do not look like a random cull, and they split cleanly along two separate UAE rulebooks.
XMR, DASH and ZEC are privacy assets. Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and the DFSA prohibited the issuance, listing and trading of anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies in the DIFC and onshore Dubai with effect from 12 January 2026, a prohibition that also covers mixers and tumblers (Elliptic). Monero and Zcash are the category’s textbook examples.
DAI, USDS, USDD and USDE are not privacy assets at all – they are stablecoins, and none is a CBUAE-approved payment token. The Central Bank of the UAE’s Payment Token Services Regulation splits the world into Dirham Payment Tokens and Foreign Payment Tokens, confines foreign tokens to narrow use cases such as buying virtual assets, and bans algorithmic stablecoins outright. Four AED-pegged tokens hold approval at various stages: AE Coin, Zand AED, DDSC and RAKBANK AED.
The detail worth noting is the date. The PTSR transition period is reported to have ended on 16 June 2026 – the same day, to the hour on Kraken’s own notice, that deposits and trading in all seven assets were disabled for UAE residents. FinanceFeeds cannot confirm a causal link, and Kraken has not claimed one. But a “routine asset review” that lands on precisely two regulatory categories on precisely that date is a coincidence worth flagging.
Does this move the ZEC price?
Almost certainly not by itself. Zcash turned over $1.39bn in the last 24 hours. Kraken has not published the size of the affected UAE balances, but the UAE is a single jurisdiction on one exchange, and the assets stopped trading there in June. Any sell flow from this window is a rounding error against daily volume.
What is moving ZEC is a different set of forces. Grayscale converted its Zcash trust into a listed spot product on NYSE Arca on 25 August, and ZCSH held 596,268.94 ZEC as of 18 September, a 28.4 percent increase on its launch holdings, largely through in-kind transfers rather than open-market buying (Cryptobriefing). Reported AUM figures for the fund vary widely depending on the date measured, from roughly $460m in early September to figures near $950m later in the month, so the coin count is the more reliable number. Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed in mid-September that the firm had bought ZEC, describing it as a private complement to Bitcoin. Shielded-pool balances reached 4.81m ZEC, about 28.4 percent of supply, as of 27 August.
One correction to a claim circulating in coverage this week: ZEC’s recent highs are multi-year highs, not all-time highs. CoinGecko records the all-time high at $3,191.93, set on 28 October 2016. Spot at $1,493.81 is roughly 53 percent below that mark.
The level that actually matters: $1,488
Invezz’s 24 September analysis puts approximately $44m of long liquidation leverage below $1,488 – which is to say, directly beneath a spot price of $1,493.81. The same analysis flags a bearish daily divergence, with price making higher highs while RSI makes lower highs, and identifies resistance at $1,700 to $1,750. A rejection there, on that read, opens a downside liquidity pocket at $1,220 to $1,300, roughly 20 percent lower. CoinGlass data cited in the piece shows about $12m of long positions cleared in the preceding 24 hours.
That is the setup going into tomorrow: a token a few dollars above a dense cluster of leveraged longs, after a 7.8 percent down day, in the middle of the strongest month it has had in years.
Scenarios
| Case | Level | From spot | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear | $1,220 | -18.3 percent | Invezz’s downside liquidity pocket ($1,220 to $1,300), reached if the $1,488 long cluster flushes and $1,700 to $1,750 has already rejected. |
| Base | $1,488 to $1,600 | -0.4 to +7.1 percent | Spot holds the liquidation shelf and consolidates below the September highs while ZCSH inflows continue. |
| Bull | $1,750 | +17.2 percent | The upper bound of Invezz’s $1,700 to $1,750 resistance band, if ETF demand absorbs profit-taking and the RSI divergence resolves upward. |
Levels are drawn from published technical work, not from FinanceFeeds forecasts. Spot reference: $1,493.81 at 13:06 UTC on 24 September 2026 (CoinGecko).
Quick take
The Kraken window closing tomorrow is a small event for the ZEC price and a large one for anyone thinking about where they hold privacy assets. Trading stopped in June, withdrawals stopped on 14 September, and after that the holder had no say at all.
For traders, the number to watch is not the deadline but $1,488. For UAE-resident holders of any of the seven assets, the deadline was 14 September, and it has passed.
Related coverage
- Zcash sets a deadline that could lock funds – a separate Zcash deadline, this one protocol-level rather than exchange-level.
- 21Shares launches Europe’s first Zcash ETP on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam – the European side of the institutional bid.
- Kraken pursues European banking licence ahead of planned US IPO – context on the exchange’s regulatory posture.
FAQ
What exactly is Kraken doing on 25 September 2026?
Finishing a force-liquidation. Kraken’s UAE delisting notice says remaining balances in XMR, DASH, USDD, DAI, USDS, USDE and ZEC held by UAE-resident customers are liquidated between 15 and 25 September. The 25th is the end of that window.
Which assets are affected?
Seven: Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), USDD, Dai (DAI), USDS, Ethena USD (USDE) and Zcash (ZEC).
Is Zcash being delisted from Kraken everywhere?
No. The notice applies to customers residing in the UAE. ZEC continues to trade on Kraken for customers in other jurisdictions.
Can a UAE holder still withdraw their ZEC?
No. Withdrawals of the affected assets closed at 14:00 UTC on 14 September 2026. After that point there is no way to move the position out.
Will the force-selling push the ZEC price down?
It is unlikely to register. Zcash trades around $1.39bn a day. Balances left on one exchange by residents of one country, in assets that stopped trading there in June, are very small against that. Kraken has not disclosed the amounts.
Why did Kraken delist these seven assets?
Kraken says it was a routine asset review and names no regulator. The list does map onto two UAE frameworks: the VARA and DFSA prohibition on anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies effective 12 January 2026, which covers XMR, DASH and ZEC, and the Central Bank’s Payment Token Services Regulation covering the four stablecoins. FinanceFeeds notes the overlap; Kraken has not confirmed it.
Is ZEC at an all-time high?
No. CoinGecko puts the all-time high at $3,191.93 on 28 October 2016. September 2026 levels are multi-year highs, the strongest since 2016, but spot at $1,493.81 remains well below the record.
Sources
Kraken support notice, “Notice of asset delistings in the UAE”; CoinGecko market data for ZEC, 24 September 2026 13:06 UTC; Invezz, 24 September 2026; Cryptobriefing on Grayscale ZCSH holdings; Elliptic on the VARA and DFSA privacy-coin prohibition; Central Bank of the UAE Payment Token Services Regulation commentary.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. FinanceFeeds does not recommend buying, selling or holding any asset. Cryptocurrency prices are volatile and you can lose the whole of your investment. Figures cited were accurate at the time of publication and may have changed. Always do your own research.