Shiba Inu (SHIB) Records Surprise 4.2% Rally to Overtake Zcash (ZEC) Among Top 30 Cryptocurrencies

The digital assets market continues to remain in an accumulation phase, yet for some tokens, it is accompanied by price spikes. In particular, Shiba Inu (SHIB) is showing dynamics today that differ from its larger counterparts, such as Bitcoin, gaining around 4.2% from the opening and peaking above $0.000006 per token.

The drivers behind this surge remain unclear, though as noted in the morning report by U.Today, the majority of top traders on Binance are long on Shiba Inu, while the token’s 24-hour trading volume is, on the contrary, declining, and currently stands at $155 million, according to CoinMarketCap.

Is SHIB’s growth signaling market-wide “risk-on” move?

Thanks to this kind of market outperformance, the token has managed to climb one spot above in the cryptocurrency market capitalization ranking by CoinMarketCap. With a valuation of $3.478 billion, it currently holds 26th place, overtaking Zcash (ZEC), a popular privacy-focused cryptocurrency that has been actively promoted by the Solana community, including Helios CEO Mert Mumtaz, as well as well-known financial thinker Naval Ravikant.

Now that Shiba Inu (SHIB) is ahead of Zcash and is confidently securing its place among the top 30 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, it is clear how the market currently gauges the risk, with utility play such as ZEC lagging behind purely speculative SHIB. 

Whether this dynamic will continue toward the end of the week remains to be seen, especially considering that over the weekend, on Friday, March 13, key macroeconomic releases are expected, including preliminary GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2025, as well as employment figures and consumer sentiment readings.