Privacy Coins Surge 213% Since Bitcoin’s October 2025 Peak, Led by Zcash Rally
Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies have climbed 213% since Bitcoin’s October 2025 high, even as BTC remains significantly below that level, according to a market breakdown published today by analyst Wise Crypto. The sector’s combined market capitalization has grown from $7.1 billion a year ago to $33.6 billion currently, though the gains are heavily concentrated in a single asset.
Zcash Dominates Privacy Sector Growth
Zcash (ZEC) accounts for roughly 62% of the privacy category’s total market cap on its own, rising 25x over the past year. Its market-cap ranking surged from #82 to as high as #7 at one point, though CoinGecko data currently places it at #9. Glassnode data published last week corroborated the trend, finding that privacy was the only crypto sector trading above its October peak, with every other category still down by double digits.
Grayscale’s Zcash ETF, trading under the ticker ZCSH, crossed $500 million in assets within two weeks of launch. Monero (XMR), the second-largest privacy asset, has approximately doubled over the same period despite facing delistings from several exchanges. Among the 25 largest crypto assets, Wise Crypto noted that only four — ZEC, HYPE, XMR, and WBT — are still trading above their October levels.
Investors Highlight Diversification Beyond Major Chains
Investor Dan Tapiero told The Wolf of All Streets on September 11 that the moves in ZEC and HYPE this cycle demonstrate crypto is no longer just a Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana story. “Zcash has been an enormous winner this year,” he said, pointing to broader activity building outside the three largest chains.
A day later, Egor Sidelska of Infinex argued that privacy is one of the only parts of crypto that hasn’t already been built out and cloned across other chains, calling ZEC “the last 100x in crypto that isn’t a random meme coin.”
Valuation Debate Continues Amid Rapid Appreciation
Not all analysts are convinced the rally is fully justified. Analyst filbfilb recently pushed back on how far the Zcash advance can be trusted, sharing valuation models that compared ZEC’s transaction activity against Bitcoin’s at a similar stage of issuance. Those models implied a price around $944 — below current levels — though convergence scenarios place fair value much higher if Zcash continues closing the gap.
At the time of writing, ZEC was changing hands at approximately $1,140, flat on the day but up 32% over the last two weeks and more than 2,100% over the past year. The token remains well off its 2016 all-time high near $3,190. Meanwhile, Bitcoin traded near $77,000, down just over 1% in 24 hours and about 34% over one year, leaving it roughly 39% below its own October 2025 all-time high.
