Zcash price slips 3%: will the CLARITY Act trigger more downside?

Zcash is trading above $550 on Tuesday, down 3%, extending its three consecutive days of declines as traders turned cautious ahead of Thursday’s Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act vote. 

Retail interest in the privacy coin takes a hit amid a three-day decline, with ZEC futures Open Interest falling by over 17% in 24 hours.

Momentum indicators suggest that the outlook remains largely unchanged, as price holds above the key support at $534.

ZEC stays above $550 despite declining retail demand

Retail appetite for the privacy-focused token weakened sharply over the past 24 hours.

According to CoinGlass data, Zcash futures Open Interest dropped more than 17% to $1.04 billion, signaling a notable decline in leverage-driven positioning. 

However, the short-term rebound in funding rates to 0.0198% reflects traders' buying long positions at a premium in anticipation of a rebound.

The decline comes as retail interest declines, with the upcoming CLARITY Act vote on Thursday and Middle East tensions weighing on the broader cryptocurrency market. 

The proposed CLARITY Act could increase compliance pressure on Digital Commodity Exchanges (DCEs), particularly through stricter Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements, creating additional uncertainty for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Zcash. 

A steady decline in ZEC’s spot market could result in liquidations of the short-term bullish positional buildup, potentially triggering a long squeeze.

ZEC technical outlook: Bulls continue to defend $534 support

The ZEC/USD 4-hour chart remains bullish despite ZEC underperforming over the past few days.

At press time, ZEC is trading at $551, maintaining its bullish structure above the 50, 100, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), clustered between roughly $314 and $389, and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracements at $534.

Price also remains above the key 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $534. Momentum indicators, however, suggest bullish strength may be fading. 

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator remains above its signal line, but the shrinking histogram points to slowing upward momentum. 

Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) slipped to 52, indicating that the bullish bias could be fading on the 4-hour chart. 

If the selloff persists, sellers would encounter initial support at the 61.8% retracement at $534, followed by the 50% retracement near $467 and the 38.2% level around $401.

A break below these levels could expose the 50-day EMA at about $389 and the broken rising trend line near $344.

This will reinforce a broader demand band above the 100 and 200-day EMAs around $348 and $314, respectively.

However, if the buyers regain control, immediate resistance would be seen at the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement around $629, ahead of the prior swing high near $750.

As long as ZEC holds above the $534 support zone, the broader bullish structure remains intact despite short-term weakness. 

The upcoming CLARITY Act vote in the United States and the conditions of a deal between the US and Iran could dictate how the broader crypto market performs this week.