Starknet and Zcash surged with double-digit growth, going against the crypto market.

Starknet (STRK) and Zcash (ZEC) both surged on Thursday, with increases of 20% and 10% respectively, amid signs of a strong recovery in market sentiment towards the privacy-focused asset class.

Starknet strengthens, aiming for the milestone of 0.32 USD

Starknet has become the market focus on Thursday, as STRK surged over 20% in 24 hours and raised its two-week gain to 120%. This strong rally helped the token return to the group of the 100 most valuable cryptocurrencies, continuing the recovery rhythm after a slight adjustment at the beginning of the week.

As a layer 2 scaling solution of Ethereum utilizing zero-knowledge technology, Starknet is benefiting greatly from the renewed interest in security assets. In the past month, the total value locked (TVL) in the ecosystem has increased by 200 million USD — a stark contrast to leading L2s like Arbitrum, Base, and Linea, where TVL decreased by 1.08 billion USD, 650 million USD, and 625 million USD respectively.

Another important driving force behind the growth of TVL is the explosion of Bitcoin staking activity, as investors increasingly prefer the method of earning rewards through wrapped BTC.

On the derivatives market, the open contracts of STRK have doubled since the beginning of November, reaching 1.04 billion STRK according to Coinglass data. Nevertheless, the funding rate remains quite low, at only 0.006%, indicating that traders may be cautious and expect the market to take a “break” after a prolonged hot rally.

Open contract of STRK | Source: CoinglassTechnically, after bouncing off the 200-day EMA, STRK has surpassed the resistance level of 0.218 USD and is currently testing the area of 0.246 USD.

If it holds above this level, the token could extend its recovery towards 0.325 USD. Both the RSI and Stochastic Oscillator indicators are in the overbought zone, reflecting overwhelming buying pressure. However, a prolonged overbought condition also means that the possibility of a short-term correction cannot be overlooked.

Daily STRK/USDT chart | Source: TradingView## Zcash could advance to 862 USD if it decisively surpasses the 700 USD mark.

The open contract of Zcash has decreased by 20% from the peak of 2.11 million ZEC on November 15. Meanwhile, the funding rate of this privacy-focused coin has remained negative throughout the past month, despite positive price movements — a signal indicating that the current rally is mainly driven by buying pressure in the spot market.

Funding rate of ZEC | Source: CoinglassAfter bouncing off the 20-day EMA, just above the support area of 529 USD, Zcash has the opportunity to extend its recovery towards the important resistance at 700 USD.

If the price decisively breaks this level, ZEC could advance further to the 862 USD region, determined by measuring the height of the rectangular price channel and projecting it upwards.

ZEC/USDT daily chart | Source: TradingViewOn the contrary, the 20-day EMA continues to be a reliable support zone, which has supported the price since the beginning of October. Currently, both RSI and Stochastic Oscillator are above the neutral zone, reinforcing the signal that the bulls are in control.

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